


Sunlight

by Light_and_Smoke



Series: Full of Light [2]
Category: The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms, The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-17
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-03 15:44:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 35
Words: 178,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2856317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Light_and_Smoke/pseuds/Light_and_Smoke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Klaus finally entices Caroline into a trip in no particular direction other than away from Mystic Falls.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Something's Not Right

**Author's Note:**

> Heyo! This was originally posted on FFnet in 2012, so I'm just rehashing it all on here, sans notes, and (against my better judgement) sans editing.

Caroline fled the Lockwood cellar, not wanting to see Tyler die. So many friends had died, and she couldn't afford to lose more. She couldn't lose the boy who had helped her as she had helped him. Her eyes full of tears, her senses overloaded, she fell to the ground of the forest floor, too overcome to carry on.

She had lost them. Try as she might, she couldn't prevent the tears that came at the idea of Klaus's soft words and electric touch no longer being there, just as much as Tyler's solid presence not being there in Mystic Falls. All of Klaus' gestures, gone. All of Tyler's assurances, gone. Klaus' heated blue gaze, gone. The compliments of how she was full of light and beautiful and…strong…

Caroline stilled in her curled position, her forehead creasing.

'You're beautiful, you're strong, you're full of light.'

'You are strong, and you have a beautiful future ahead of you.'

The eloquent words had seemed unusual from Tyler, but she hadn't paid much attention at the time. She had just wanted to say goodbye in her way. And he had kissed her differently, adoringly, but she had merely assumed it was because it was their last kiss…or their first…

Caroline shot up. Screw it. She had to go back and see Tyler. She couldn't shake the idea forming in her head, and even if it wasn't true, she couldn't let him die alone in the dark.

Caroline sped back to the damp cellar, fear spreading in her belly at the pure silence surrounding the area. She stepped slowly down the stairs, hearing nothing.

Nothing but breathing, and a steady beating heart.

She rounded the corner to see Tyler standing with his back to the stairs, clearly not in pain, clearly not a wolf, not anything but Tyler. But there was just something distinctly not Tyler about him.

Caroline's imagination jumped to insane conclusions, and she recalled everything. Elijah's comment on Klaus' favourite 'trick', the sire bond, the bloodline, hybrids, witches, Alaric with another person in his body…

Caroline took the risk.

"Klaus?"

Tyler spun around with a look of recognition and surprise.

"Caroline," He breathed in such a familiar but unfamiliar manner. If his accent had been British, it would have made it completely identical.

Caroline was filled with joy for both Tyler being alive and also Klaus still existing in some form, then anger that he was inhabiting Tyler's body, then rage that he hadn't told her and had taken advantage of her lack of knowledge.

"Tell me what's going on, right now." She hissed, unbelievably conflicted.

"Why did you call me Klaus?" Not-Tyler asked, all too wide eyed and innocently confused.

"Don't try that with me. Just tell me what's going on."

He frowned slightly, before a smirk appeared on his face that gave the whole façade away. Caroline shuddered: it was just unnatural to see that on someone she thought she had known so well.

"What gave me away?"

"Everything." She snapped.

"You'll have to be more specific, love."

"Stop it. Just don't talk for a bit. Its…so unsettling."

He understood her predicament slightly, and he was quiet for a moment, giving her time to think.

"Whats happening? Is it just your spirit that's still here? Does that mean your body completely burned? What's going – "

Klaus-Tyler clamped his hand over her mouth, looking towards the entrance. Someone was walking to the steps. He sped them both to a dark alcove of the room, and kept one finger on Caroline's lips. She looked at him questioningly.

He mouthed to her, so he didn't alert the intruder to their presence and also didn't break her request for him to not speak.

'Don't move, don't talk. And don't come out till I tell you to. You understand?'

She nodded, and he looked at her for a beat till they heart the footsteps stop. Bonnie's voice rang out, and Caroline's eyes widened. Her friend did this?

"I know you're here."

Klaus-Tyler walked out of the shadows to face the witch.

"I must say, you really did that spell brilliantly." His face turned into a Klaus-like sneer. "I didn't think you had it in you."

"I did it to save my friends and my mother, Klaus. Not you." Bonnie said levelly, with a calmness that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"The spirits wont be happy with you." He commented.

"The spirits don't get to tell me what to do anymore." She replied harshly. "I'm done getting pushed around by all of you. I did it because I wanted to."

He shrugged in acceptance, a move only Klaus – or Klaus' spirit in someone else's body – could really pull off.

"Then what's your next move?"

"Getting you out of my friends body."

"Trick is, how do we get me back into my rightful body?" He asked, and Bonnie's eyes narrowed.

"That's not so much my concern. For all I care, you can go to a dogs body."

He chuckled. "Ahh, if only you knew that I would stay alive in such a pathetic casing."

"You've survived for long enough in your previous pathetic casing." She said boldly.

Klaus-Tyler snarled under his breath, but knew well enough to hold back from any retaliation. For now. "Just find a way to get me back in my body and there'll be no more trouble."

"Your chest is burnt pretty badly, but not completely. Alaric closed the coffin lid, and it cut off oxygen to the fire. He was too intent on getting Rebekah after he got you."

Klaus-Tyler growled, and Bonnie set her lips in a straight line. "You are not going to avenge yourself or any of your siblings. Its better if everyone thinks you're dead. Surely that would fit in better with your plans."

"Still doesn't mean I can't kill your ex-history teacher."

Bonnie threw out her hand almost lazily to give him a typical witchy migraine, and he clutched his head.

"I wouldn't do that. Especially if you want my help, since I'm the one who saved you in the first place." She let the pain fade away and lowered her hand. "Now. Once I put you back in the right body and we make sure that Tyler is back in his own mind, you are going to leave Mystic Falls for a while. You wont attack any of my friends. Got that?"

"Loud and clear." He gritted, making an effort not to snarl.

"I need more than that."

"You have my word, I'll leave and not kill any of your friends." He raised his brows and looked innocently at her.

She looked back with suspicion, but nodded slowly. "If you don't comply, I'll just start this whole process over."

"Understood." Klaus-Tyler nodded, and Bonnie sighed.

"Right. You'll have to stay here tonight, and we'll sort out the bodies tomorrow. I'll be back before dawn." Without more of a goodbye, she left.

He waited till he couldn't hear her steps anymore, and turned to beckon Caroline out of hiding. She was already standing a few feet away.

"You were lying the whole time to her." She said coldly.

He blinked, surprised that she understood him so much, even with the confusion of a new body.

"Of course I was."

"Klaus…don't do this." She said, very nearly pleading, which wasn't her style at all.

"Why not? Your friends have tried to kill me on numerous occasions. You've tried too if I recall correctly." He shot, and she stiffened.

"And you haven't tried to kill us? You cant hang that over our heads for eternity."

"Yes I can. I could kill Bonnie. I never promised anything about her life. I could convince Rebekah to kill Elena and Matt, it would take very little to ask for that. I could get Elijah to kill the Salvatores, they do annoy him. Or if he's feeling too moral, I could just ask Kol, though I think it would be a kinder death at the hands of Elijah, don't you? And as for Tyler, once I have my body back, I will personally wring his neck. Your's too, if you'd like."

Caroline didn't let him gain a reaction from her, though her insides froze at the very real future he outlined for all of them.

Klaus-Tyler tilted his head. "Or I could do as Bonnie asked, and not harm anyone, and leave Mystic Falls. And you could join me."

Caroline had been waiting for the catch in that promise, and found it wasn't as displeasing as it should have been.

"Come now, love, it isn't so bad. Save your friends lives, save your life, and see the sights the world has to offer. Rome, Paris, Tokyo, London, Brazil, Rio, Stockholm, Sydney."

The picture he was painting was enticing for a girl who had spent almost two decades stuck in the one small town, who had never been on a plane or tasted foreign cuisine or experienced another culture or felt the sand and waves on an actual beach. And her friends lives would be spared, and the threat would be gone. She would be with the biggest monster out there, surely everyone would be safe.

"I'm still waiting for the catch. What do you get out of this?" She questioned, and he shook his head.

"Merely the pleasure of your company. No funny business from me." He sighed at her unmoved face. "I get a chance. And the moment that you want to leave, within reason, you may leave. I wont be chaining you to me. All I ask is that you take a chance." His words from earlier were changed, and she ignored how wrong they sounded coming from Tyler's mouth, just as she ignored how wrong the whole scenario was.

"So if I go with you, they'll be safe? They'll all be safe, even from your siblings? And you'll leave Tyler's body and return to yours?"

"You have my word." He said, and she scowled.

"You pulled that crap on Bonnie before."

He set his brows, his face stony and serious, a look that Tyler had never been capable of before in his own mind.

"I swear it. On my own life and my siblings. I swear."

Caroline took a deep breath. She'd save them all. Tyler too.

She nodded.

Klaus-Tyler swallowed his smile at her words before checking his wrist and realising that Tyler was not a wrist-watch type of man and checking his phone for the time instead.

"Bonnie will be back in around five hours. You should hunt, come back here, and try to get some rest. I'll be back shortly."

"What will you do?" Caroline asked, immedietly worried he would be doing a similar thing, worried about him murdering people. It was wrong enough in his body, in Tyler's it was just a violation.

"Fulfil my part of the bargain. Talk to Elijah, make sure your little gang is safe."

She took a long look at him, nodded, and left. She couldn't handle any more creepiness. It was just wrong to see him in Tyler's body. It was just plain wrong.


	2. Soul Meets Body

When Bonnie returned in the still air as the sun rose, she was shocked to see both Klaus-Tyler and Caroline waiting for her.

"Did you tell her?" She asked him, and Caroline answered before he got a chance.

"I know." She said coldly, and Bonnie could tell just how hurt she was by her friends actions, but she was beyond caring at this point. She kept getting pushed around, she had done this to save all their lives, including Caroline's, and she simply didn't have enough time to deal with this right now.

"Your body is ready for the ritual." Bonnie told Klaus-Tyler, before turning on her heel and marching back up the stairs. They followed her.

They made their way out of the forest to the two parked cars – Bonnie's and Tyler's. The two of them hopped into their respective cars, and Caroline was left with a choice.

"Care?" Bonnie asked, waiting for her friend to get in the car with her, for why the hell would she get into a car with Klaus in the shape of her boyfriend?

"Thanks Bon, I got this one." She said with a hint of ice, and hopped into the car with Klaus-Tyler.

Caroline glanced sideways at him to see his smug face.

"Don't look like that. I'm just keeping a watch on Tyler. And I don't particularly want to deal with new-Bonnie's third degree."

"Understood."

Caroline ducked her head slightly, trying to look busy while she felt Bonnie's eyes on her through the rear mirror as they drove off.

"Anywhere in Europe you'd most like to go?" Klaus-Tyler asked cheerfully as they drove.

"You're the one with the power here, alpha male." She snapped, and sighed. "Do you mind not talking too much right now? Its still disconcerting."

He tilted his head and nodded, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable. He was winning now, anyway. And she had called him the alpha male, which he liked a little too much for it to be good for him.

They arrived at the storage block, and walked in silence with Bonnie in the lead till they came to door 667.

"I'm one step up from the devil, am I?" Klaus-Tyler smirked, and Bonnie and Caroline rolled their eyes in unison.

"We had to make sure no one would find you again, now, didn't we." Bonnie snapped before chanting a quick unbinding spell, well aware of the fact that the longer Klaus' body was damaged, the harder it would be to repair it and get him back in there in the first place.

The door rolled open, and they walked slowly up to the coffin. Bonnie glanced at Klaus-Tyler before opening the box to show Klaus' charred torso. Caroline inhaled a swift breath at the sight, shocked by the display just as much as he was, which surprised her. He noticed and, half for his comfort, half for hers, gentle took her hand in his. She kept their hands clasped for a second before letting her hand slip from his. He couldn't work out if it was because she thought of him as Tyler, or as his true self.

"Right. So what do we need to do first?" Caroline got straight to business.

Bonnie exhaled. "We need to repair his body a bit before he returns to it. Otherwise he'll just die, and that could kill you all." She bit her lip, obviously conflicted about this new risk, but straightened her spine and took out her Grimoire. "Klaus, I'm going to need you to lie down next to the casket."

Klaus-Tyler frowned. "I've been through this before, and I know that's not necessary for part of the spell."

Bonnie's eyes bored a hole through him. "I don't care. Lie down next to the casket."

He complied, shooting daggers at her with his glare the whole while. Once he was settled on the floor, Bonnie waved her hand and his eyes shut, his body going limp. She'd knocked him out.

"Sure that's the best thing?"

"It is for what I've got in store." Bonnie let some warmth creep back into her face, but it didn't reach her eyes. Caroline couldn't tell that it was the same person anymore. Bonnie ignored her best friends stare, setting up candles around the casket.

"Caroline, you should run."

Caroline had been helping her light the candles, but she paused.

"Excuse me?"

Bonnie twisted sharply to face her. "In case you haven't picked up on the fact, that's not Tyler. That's Klaus."

Caroline gritted her teeth. "I know. That's why I'm here."

"Because of Tyler?" Bonnie fished with a knowing tone. "Or Klaus?"

Caroline scoffed, but Bonnie's eyes narrowed as she studied her friend.

"I knew it. All those times with him, and you were falling for him. What about Tyler? What about all he's done to get back to you?"

"You don't know, Bonnie. You don't know whats been going on while we've been trying to keep Elena safe."

"Then tell me." She raised her eyebrows as Caroline opened and closed her mouth in a manner akin to a fish trying to keep its cool and be subtle. "Klaus has made our lives miserable, Care."

Caroline sensed a serious judgement in her friends voice, and it made her hard as ice. "You're helping him too. You just do your part and I'll do mine and we'll all be safe. I've got my own plan, just like you."

Bonnie grew just as cold at Caroline's words, and she morphed straight back into her darker self. "Fine."

She went to stand next to the coffin and didn't glance back to her friend.

"If you want to help him, you'll need to be ready to give your blood for the rejuvenation spell. Only if you're willing."

Caroline didn't spare words, just walking to stand beside her with a rolled up sleeve.

Bonnie began to chant the Latin printed in spidery handwriting on the pages of the Grimoire, closing her eyes as the repetition ensured it was committed to memory. As the air pressure changed, she nodded in Caroline's direction for an indication. Caroline bit into her own wrist, pressing the wound against Klaus' stony lips and letting the supernatural blood trickle down his throat. She kept her arm there till the room started to grow lighter again, and Bonnie opened her eyes. Caroline snatched her hand away, rubbing it as the wound healed rapidly. Klaus felt so cold.

Bonnie waved Caroline away wordlessly, and the blonde vampire stepped back to give her friend space. The dark haired girl seemed fixated, chanting without need of the book from her ancestors, rocking back and forth, beginning to spasm as blood dripped down in two pure lines from her nose. Caroline watched in horror, wanting to save her, not knowing how she could without endangering them all. There was a force driving Bonnie that was beyond her, beyond Caroline, beyond all of their limits, a force that could kill or spare them all.

Bonnie crumpled towards the floor, the last word of the chant passing through her lips like a sigh. Caroline rushed to catch her before she hit the ground, easily supporting her friends weight. She wiped the blood from her face, listening to her heartbeat slowing to a steady pulse, her breathing settling to the one she had been born with, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale.

Caroline let out her own breath in a sigh of relief, just as the body in the coffin gasped its first breath in. She jolted, setting down Bonnie safely on the floor and rushing to look at Klaus.

His chest was healed. His veins beginning to fade into a normal skin tone. His eyes were still closed. But he was breathing.

She felt relief, and set it down to the fact that she had repaid a debt and kept her potential maker alive for another day so the bloodline could continue.

Tyler. Caroline tore her eyes away to look at him on the floor next to the coffin and, yes, he was still breathing. Unconscious, but breathing.

They were all alive.

Caroline let a small chuckle of joy pass her lips, and Klaus' eyes opened. She gazed into the stormy sapphire depths, and instant calm washed over her. What words should be said first? That she had tried to save him? That she accepted his offer? That she might, just maybe, like him ever so slightly more than merely in a neutral sense?

He licked his lips. "Why do I taste your blood?"

She was reminded of her birthday. How the tables had turned.

"I think we've saved each other enough by now to call it square." She stated, aware of the irony of her blood saving him when the opposite had only occurred months before.

He smirked, and made to rise but was disrupted by the chains.

"You mind freeing me, love?"

She tilted her head, her curls swaying enticingly. "Hmm. I think I'd rather enjoy the sight of you all chained up." Caroline retorted, before realising just how suggestive it sounded.

Klaus raised a brow. "Very funny. We'll have time for chains later."

"How about I just leave you locked up for eternity?"

He scowled, clearly not appreciative of her humour, and forcefully broke through the restrains with only a little more effort than it would have usually taken him.

"Don't forget. I am a thousand years older than you, little one, and The Original Hybrid to boot. Don't test me."

"Bite me." She said, unable to come up with a wittier retort.

He smirked. "Don't tempt me there, either." He murmured, caressing her cheek with the side of one finger before standing. "Lets go."

Caroline looked back to her friends on the ground. "But…"

"Caroline," He said with a little more urgency, before groaning. "Alright. I'll take care of your witch friend. You…say goodbye to him." His eyes flashed with rare compassion.

Caroline was so stunned that she actually believed him. Perhaps he had changed a little. He'd probably never fully change, and that was probably for the best, but he had started the change. And she should continue that change a little further and go with him. She was being given a rare opportunity on more levels than one. And she could never resist a little chance to help.

Klaus scooped up Bonnie and walked out to place her back in the car, giving Caroline as much time as they could spare.

She crouched down and lifted Tyler's head slightly as his eyes blinked open.

"Care…" He muttered woozily, squinting. "What the hell is going on?"

"Tyler, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." She bit her lip. "Sometimes it just doesn't work out."

"Care, hold up, whats happening."

"Klaus is back. He was in your body cause Alaric staked him, but now he's back in his and he's alive. And he's leaving. And I have to go with him."

"Care!"

"It's the only way to keep you all safe. He wont harm you if he's with me."

"This is crazy."

"It is." She nodded, looking down to him with nothing but love, compassion, and the need to move on. "But its something I have to do."

"I'll come after you. I'll get you back – "

"Tyler, no." Caroline sighed, her eyes filling with tears that she was determined not to shed. "We shouldn't have got back together. That's when all this trouble started. But that's okay. Sometimes people just aren't meant to be together. It doesn't make me love you any less. But we aren't meant to be together."

Tyler looked into her eyes for a moment before scowling. "This is because of Klaus and his charm, isn't it."

"No, Ty – "

"I should never have left, that sneaky son of –"

"Tyler! Listen to me. I love you. That's what I said before. And right now, I still love you. I don't care about you any less. But haven't you felt us pulling apart regardless? That hasn't got anything to do with Klaus. Its everything to do with us. We aren't meant to be together, Ty. Its not in the cards for us. And maybe the worlds trying to tell us that."

She brushed away the single traitor tear that had started to fall, and stood up.

"Don't come after me." She warned, before dashing away, knowing he was too weak for the time being to follow her.

Caroline crashed into Klaus a few yards down the corridor. He steadied her with his hands on her shoulders.

"All right?"

Caroline bit back sobs, not wanting him to see her as weak.

"Fine." She glared up at him, her sass returning. Just cause she felt all jumbled up didn't mean that she didn't still hate him on some level as well.

"Are you going to kidnap me, or what?"

Klaus had the audacity to chuckle, and he stepped back, gesturing for her to walk towards the entrance without his help. She shot him a look before strutting off. If she ran, he would just catch her anyway. And she wanted more control than that.


	3. New York, New York

Klaus had the manners to drop off Tyler's car and pick up his own in a swift cross over that Caroline barely noticed. They drove all day to get to an airport that would take them off the continent of America. Caroline gazed out the window the whole time, not speaking to or looking at Klaus.

He accepted her silence. He knew his deal with her was vaguely akin to kidnapping, but like most other human things such as guilt and conscience – trivial matters to him, really – he ignored it. Caroline had agreed, hadn't she? She was allowed a little sulking. But he would not be so accepting later.

They stopped off in Washington for a bite. Caroline had a look of absolute disgust on her face as Klaus stated this, and he reminded her harshly that her friends had desiccated him and he, like all of them, like her, needed blood to live. She had still not uttered a word, but waited for him in a diner and retaliated by ordering the most expensive things on the menu with his card. It had been very petty retaliation.

Somewhere between Washington and Baltimore, he glanced over to find her asleep. Good. Klaus inched his way over the speed limit, dodging between cars almost lazily.

They reached their destination a few hours later. Caroline woke up when strong arms lifted her from her seat and carried her away. She instinctively nuzzled herself into the shoulder of this comforting presence, inhaling their delicious scent to the bottom of her lungs, until she woke up enough to recognise that she should not be doing that with this person in particular. She looked up to find his face inches away, smirking in amusement.

"Klaus…" She said groggily, blinking her sky blue eyes, trying to gain more awareness. He was cradling her bridal style, waiting for the lift in a hotel.

"Shall I take the bags up to the room for you, sir?" A concierge with the Hilton uniform asked politely.

"Thank you, no. I'll manage." He replied, tightening his grip on both girl and bags securely as he pulled one arm away to discretely hand the man a tip.

"Certainly." The concierge beamed at Caroline. "Enjoy your stay, miss. Best of luck."

The lift arrived, and Klaus stepped in. Caroline had enough sense to wait till the doors closed before speaking.

"What did he mean?"

Klaus held back a grin, already predicting her fiery reaction. "They think we're eloping."

"What?!"

"Much easier to book a room for a man and woman at such short notice that way."

Caroline fumed. "Well, what about when you travelled with Rebekah?"

Klaus made a face. "Obviously I said she was my sister."

"Then why not just say the same thing now?"

"Didn't want to cause a fuss with the booking. We are trying to move quickly." He glanced down at her again. "And oddly enough, the way I feel about my sister is nowhere near the way I feel about you."

His eyes shouldn't have burned her like that, but they did. She broke his gaze and crossed her arms indignantly, wanting space.

"Put me down."

"It took you this long to realise, sweetheart? Surely you're not that comfortable with me."

She hissed wordlessly at him, and he merely chuckled smugly in response, stepping out of the lift and walking to their hotel room. He opened the door and Caroline stretched out like a board so he couldn't enter the room.

"What now, love?" He grumbled.

"You are not crossing a threshold with me like this." She growled, and he scoffed, but agreed to her demands, placing her back down on the floor.

"Perhaps not this time."

Caroline shot him a look and flounced into the room. Klaus followed, shutting the door behind them both.

"I don't even have anything to change into, thanks to your kidnapping."

"Voluntary abduction, Miss Forbes. And Tyler kindly packed your bag."

Caroline recognised one of the overnight bags in his hands, and she snatched it from him quickly, throwing him the dirtiest glare she could muster before retreating to the bathroom for some privacy.

Tyler must have been able to get some of her clothes together for them to escape before Bonnie called him for the plan. Caroline shook her head. Bonnie had seemed harsh and cold, even considering the extra information of how her best friend was running off with the Grand Master Hybrid. She'd had to tap into some seriously dark magic…had it changed her?

Caroline exhaled, checking her phone. It was too much for her to worry about right now. She had her own troubles. And the gang back in Mystic Falls would keep Bonnie safe and sound. Her mobile had been on silent all day: she couldn't handle her friends criticism once they realised where she was.

Five missed calls from Bonnie, four voicemails

Three missed calls from Stefan, three voicemails

One from Damon

One from Matt

One from Tyler

Eight texts from Stefan

Four texts from Bonnie

Three from Matt

None from Elena

Weird. Caroline ignored the creeping lonely blue feelings at Elena's silence. Her friend had guessed already that she would save Klaus, perhaps she didn't judge her.

She dared to listen to the voicemails.

"Caroline, I cannot believe that you just did that. You have to come back, okay? Turn around right now, and just run till you get back here, so I can kick your sorry butt." Bonnie sounded pissed.

"Care, its me. I…look, I'm sorry, okay? Forget what I said. We just need you back here. I'm sorry. Just come home. We'll sort all this out. Love you."

Caroline pressed the end button, not able to continue on if the rest of the messages from Bonnie were like this. She could only imagine the ones from Stefan. Her phone buzzed with another message, and she couldn't bring herself to check it, or even the rest of them. She switched the mobile off. She'd deal with it tomorrow.

Caroline checked the contents of the bag: two shirts and a pair of jeans that simply would not create a good outfit – Tyler's lack of fashion was probably a good thing, but seriously? – underwear, a toothbrush, a shirt and some shorts from the college her dad had gone to that had become her favourite sleeping gear, and…and…a curling iron. Caroline sniffed, refusing to tear up. It was so considerate of him to take her craziness seriously. But she steeled herself in the fact that it just hadn't been working out for them, and turned on the shower, grabbing the complimentary Hilton Hotel Shampoo and Conditioner. She needed to calm the hell down.

Caroline pulled back the shower curtain, noting the mesh on top that allowed the occupant to see the bathroom. Good. Klaus couldn't sneak up on her. She heaved a sigh, knowing that she had willingly stepped into this bargain, and she was actually gaining a little from it. Friends safe, check. Seeing the world, check. A little more time to figure out everything with the charming hybrid/killer, check.

Maybe she was insane.

Either way, she wasn't going to let him get to her so easily. She knew what he had done was wrong, and she wasn't about to let down her guard so quickly.

Caroline busied her mind by lathering her hair, the hot water relieving some of the tension in her neck.

The door opening nearly gave her a heart attack. Why hadn't there been a lock on it? And why didn't Klaus understand privacy?

"What are you doing?!" She glared at him through the mesh.

"Brushing my teeth. You don't mind, love, do you?" He gazed back at her, daring and maybe just a little lustful.

"Um, yeah. Kind of do mind." She snapped, drawing closer to the curtain to ensure that he could only see her head, and nothing else. "Do you know the meaning of the word privacy?"

Klaus wet his toothbrush, going through the motions nonchalantly. "Of course. Do I respect them? Probably not."

"More than a little naked here."

His stormy eyes locked on hers with a spark. "No need to remind me, little one. Far too tempting."

She rolled her eyes before she fell into the trap of having eye sex with him. That was far too tempting too.

"Come on. I broke it off with my boyfriend, who's body you had been inhabiting, only hours ago. Can I go just one moment without being hit on?"

The sight of Klaus brushing his teeth and looking indignant almost brought a smile to Caroline's face, but she was too tired.

"I am not hitting on you. Please don't sully this with such pathetic slang. But I will respect your wishes."

The words lost their edge due to the toothpaste in his mouth, but he still rinsed and left, closing the door behind them.

Who knew that he, the Big Bad, was into dental care and hygiene. She had to pinch herself just to be sure that it was all real. It was.

Once she was certain he was gone, she powered through her shower and dried off within the safety of the shower screen, just in case. She changed into the college shirt and shorts, wanting comfort and hoping it would ward off any thoughts of sexiness with Klaus, from both his side and hers.

Caroline set her face into a look of blank frustration, opened the door.

Klaus was dressed in flannel pants, his chest bare, a towel thrown over one shoulder.

Damn.

She scowled at him as he passed by her wordlessly, a smirk on his face. Caroline huffed her way over to the bed before realising there was only one for the two of them.

"So are you sleeping on the floor tonight, doggy?" She called, fluffing her hair with the towel to dry it slightly.

"Very funny, sweetheart." Klaus replied, and Caroline glanced up to find he had left the bathroom door wide open, and he had turned the shower on again, and he was all prepared to strip down, and suddenly all Caroline could focus on was skin, and more skin, and God, Klaus's ass, she was checking out the toned evil hybrids bare ass.

She slammed the door shut for him with a growl.

"Clearly we need to add decency to your list of misunderstood words." Caroline said, and heard him chuckle in reply. He had so done that on purpose. She fumed as she braided her hair so she wouldn't wake up with a complete birds nest the next day. He was absolutely infuriating, and she knew that while she might feel a small, tiny, insignificant attraction towards him, he'd have to work damn hard to impress her.

She grabbed her toothbrush, determined to give him a taste of his own medicine. Caroline flounced into the bathroom, focusing on her task, not realising till her toothbrush was in her mouth and she was glancing back up to the mirror that Klaus had failed to completely close the shower curtains.

"Gahh!" She exclaimed, by far the most flustered sound to ever escape her throat. She focused her attention on the wall.

"Problem, love?"

"You know exactly what the problem is." She mumbled around her toothbrush, spitting out excess toothpaste before ranting. "I don't know what the thing was when you were just a human and dinosaurs roamed the Earth, but in today's society people don't flaunt their naked, muscular bodies 24/7." She resumed the vigorous brushing of her teeth.

Klaus turned off the water with a chuckle. "I'm slightly worried by your lack of historical understanding, but I'll let that slide." He appeared in the mirror in front of her, and she kept her gaze fixed steadfastly on her own face.

"I'm perfectly comfortable in my own body, sweetheart. Not my problem that you're intimidated." He said smugly while thankfully wrapping a towel around his waist.

Caroline rolled her eyes and made a big show of bending over to rinse and spit into the sink. She turned and stared him down, determined to be the stronger one.

"Put a goddamn shirt on." She snapped, strutting out of the bathroom and climbing into the large double bed.

"And goodnight to you too, sweetheart." He called after her.

"Its like inhaling razorblades." Alaric, the man she had once considered an ally and friend, had been inflicting pain on her for so long. The vervain rag was tied over her mouth again, and she whimpered around it.

"What was that, Caroline? Not enough pain?" Alaric grinned, removing her ring and blasting her with the sunlight that streamed through the windows of the classroom. She screamed, her mind flying to numb the pain somehow.

"Starlight, love" A soothing voice was in her ear now. "Pretend its starlight."

Caroline tried, but then Alaric hissed and ran at her with a stake, and she screamed once more, thrashing against strong arms that cradled her to a lean chest.

She whimpered and clutched at the soft grey shirt under her hands, sobbing tearlessly as she fought for breath.

"Its okay, love, it was just a dream. You're safe." Klaus soothed, and she relaxed into his frame before stiffening.

"Let go of me." She said quietly, and he did as she complied, backing away and off the bed.

"It was merely a nightmare." He calmed again.

"I know that." She snapped irritably, not wanting to seem weak.

His jaw tightened in the half-light of the room. There was only so far he would go, even with her. He'd never hurt her, but for now, the gentle side was gone.

"Fine. Just didn't want you to wake up the whole bloody hotel." He said harshly, his face growing cold as he trudged back to the sofa.

"How considerate."

"Merely my own benefit, love. Can't be bothered compelling everyone in the hotel. And I'm not quite in the mood for a bloodbath just yet."

"Jerk." She murmured, curling in on herself.

"I do try." He said softly, and she couldn't figure out if it was in response to her statement, or if it was about the whole situation with her in general.

"I know." She answered, since it worked for both.

Caroline closed her eyes to sleep again, and her dreams flashed back to Alaric only for a moment before she found herself in a meadow with wild horse grazing. It looked like a field in Mystic Falls that her friends had camped at. She dimly realised that it was a memory, and that Klaus was invading her dreams, but she was thankful for it. She couldn't stand another Alaric torture dream. And Klaus kept himself hidden, having reached his limit for her harsh words for that evening.


	4. Big Jet Plane

Caroline jiggled her foot on the carpeted floor of the 747, ignoring the glares of the other first class passengers as the soft tak tak tak sounded through the cabin like persistent raindrops. Finally, after Klaus' pointed look, she halted her movements, resuming them through her fingers only moments later. The staccato drumming of her fingernails on the armrest between them prompted Klaus to stop her.

"Planning a routine for the cast of Stomp?" He asked, covering her small hand with his considerably larger one to cease the sound.

"Very clever, that was almost a mile off being funny. You're improving." She retorted sourly. He could feel under his hand how her entire body was thrumming with nervous energy.

"Would it help if I just compelled you?"

She finally turned her full attention to him sharply. "No. That's just cheating."

Klaus shrugged, turning his attention back to the newspaper.

Caroline bubbled like a pot on the stove for a moment more before snapping.

"Any help would be nice."

He exhaled through his nose, folding up the paper meticulously.

"Do you know how many airplanes crash a year?"

Caroline sent him a look that was caught somewhere between a glare and pure fear. He would have found it comical if they had been in any other situation.

"That's your idea of help?!"

"Patience, love." Klaus said levelly, and she scoffed, but was otherwise silent.

"Thirty-six. That's out of the nine million, seven hundred and forty-eight thousand, five hundred and fifty-one flights a year. That gives you a one in two hundred and seventy thousand, four hundred and seventeen chance of being in a plane crash. So there is a ninety-nine point nine nine nine six three percent probability that the plane wont crash. In all my years, I have only been in one. And planes used to be made out of wood and fabric. People used to get them started by pushing them and waiting for the wind to catch the wings correctly like a kite. It's only been in the last hundred years that they've perfected air travel to be what it is today."

The conversation was cut short by an invisible force pushing them back slightly into the soft first-class seats.

"What's that?" Caroline asked, the anxiety no longer present in her voice.

Klaus glanced out the window behind Caroline with a bored expression.

"The plane is taking off."

"Oh. Oh!" Caroline swooped towards the cabin window with the wide-eyed curiosity of a child, all fear forgotten. Klaus watched her as she watched the world fly out from beneath them. Her wonder was contagious.

Once they were above the clouds, she sat back with a sigh, loosening her gripped hands. She hadn't realised one of them had been wrapped around Klaus' but they let it pass by wordlessly. That seemed to be the new rule: not talking about any moments where Caroline actually seemed comfortable with him.

Klaus returned wordlessly to the paper, while Caroline settled herself in with all that the plane had to offer for the flight. Upon boarding, she had recognised that they were going to Russia, but that was about it. She was surprised to say the least, after Klaus' whole spiel about 'Rome, Paris, Toyko', but then again, he was full of surprises. Some serious, nasty surprises too, but still.

"You realise I'm never going to be able to travel any other way again after this." Caroline observed to an impassive Klaus. "I may not have been anywhere, but as far as I know, economy is nowhere near as nice as this." She gestured to the space and champagne-bearing air hostesses of the first class cabin.

"As far as I'm concerned, love, you wont ever need to travel economy." He replied in the most blasé tone he could, trying to gloss over the fact that if he had his way, she would receive every luxury for the rest of her eternal life. She deserved all of it and more, she was worth all of heaven and Earth after all. And he especially would know, being a proud creature of hell himself.

Caroline blinked sagely at him, perceiving more than she let on. She let her gaze drop to her fingers, knotted and folded in her lap, her perfect curls swinging forth like a curtain to hide her face.

"I suggest resting. The time difference between New York and our destination is a little disconcerting, and we'll be taking in the city once we arrive." He fell back into his cocky mask. "That is, unless you're feeling peckish."

Caroline looked up, appalled. "You wouldn't…not on a flight like this."

"We both know I've done far worse." He seemed resigned in this fact.

"But not now."

Klaus studied her, brow puckered ever so slightly. She licked her lips uncertainly before continuing. She may as well be honest.

"Not with me here. Please. I get that we need it to live, but there has to be a better way. Especially on a nine hour flight. You're better than that."

He was stunned by the fact that she thought higher of him now, even after everything. But she had to know that he wasn't going to change. He wasn't one of those men who suddenly became someone else and dropped everything that the one he was pursuing detested. He wasn't one for sunshine, rainbows and puppies. It was one of the delicious things that made them different, that gave them that contrast and intrigue and attraction. He was himself, and she would have to learn that at some point.

"Perhaps." He replied. "Though I suggest you try it straight from the source once or twice on our little tour. Not killing," He calmed in an undertone so as to assure her and not alert other passengers. "You don't always have to kill, surprisingly. Honestly, did the Salvatore's teach you nothing?"

"Stefan taught me a great deal in regards to morals. He had a heart." Caroline replied protectively.

Klaus merely chuckled. "We all know I'm heartless, my dear. But of course, you learnt at the hands of the reformed Ripper. Perhaps you should take some advice from someone with much more experience; you can have control as well as pleasure." He practically purred the last word, and her lips parted in response, the breath escaping her lungs and not returning for a moment. Then she snapped back to attention, raising her eyebrows at him in a look of exasperation.

"I'm going to sleep." Caroline stated firmly, avoiding further conversation with him. He nodded, still with that infuriating half-smirk on his face, and she extended her seat to a recline, settling in and closing her eyes and falling…

They were underground. She knew she wasn't alone because she could hear someone else walking in endless circles around her, slow, purposeful footsteps. She was strapped to a chair.

Caroline became aware that it was the same dungeon her father had tortured her in. She twisted, trying to see the predator walking around her, but she only saw darkness. She heard a cold chuckle and knew who it was.

"Alaric," Caroline breathed, and he came into view in front of her, carrying a bucket of water.

"Hello Caroline."

She shuddered. This was not her friend. This was a monster. And monsters shouldn't know her name. Monsters shouldn't use her name.

"Let me go." She tried to state with authority, but he didn't even register that he had heard her words.

"Head up, Caroline." He ordered.

She didn't move, and he was suddenly at her side, glaring down at her.

"I said, head up." He said, compulsion weighing every word. Her head tilted up of its own accord, and he grinned, the action marring his face and changing it into something utterly petrifying.

"Eyes open. You're about to truly suffer." Alaric raised the bucket and poured it over her.

It was vervain.

She let loose an involuntary scream, clamping her mouth shut as she realised it would only let more vervain into her system. Already she felt it cutting her flesh, burning her eyes as they remained open without her control, the compulsion doing its job.

Caroline thrashed against her restraints even as she felt some of them unbuckle, since others began to take its place.

"Shh, love, wake up now, its alright," A soothing British voice sounded, and she leaned towards it, away from Alaric's sneer, falling through darkness towards calloused fingers that combed damp curls away from her temple. Klaus' cheek was pressed comfortingly against her hairline, the stubble ticking her scalp like a welcome distraction.

"Its okay now, you're stronger than such things, little one." His never-ending murmurs of comfort swirled in the shell of her ear, and she let herself be held for a moment or two, registering how it made her feel.

Klaus was just as much of a monster as Alaric in some ways. Yet she could find any fear in her body as she sat half curled into his chest. Nor was there any repulsion. She wanted to snuggle further into him and his earthy scent. However she couldn't bring herself to move away from where her ear currently rested, directly above the heart he claimed he didn't have, which despite his calm words and soothing manner was racing like a horse, almost indenting onto her cheek with every beat.

It was so human.

And at that, she wriggled out of his grasp. Despite his steady hold and strength, he let her go. Caroline couldn't bring herself to look at his face as she left, though she did notice that the other passengers were soundly asleep. At least that meant her night terrors weren't making her scream in real life.

She made it to the bathroom and put the top seat down, sitting and trying to steady her breathing. She raked her hands through her hair, potentially ruining the spiralling curls, but she couldn't bring herself to care. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror and scoffed. She looked sleep deprived, teary eyed, rumpled, deranged. Very enticing.

Why did she want to be enticing right now? Caroline tried to ignore that thought. She was Miss Mystic Falls. She was always meant to be enticing. She was expected to be enticing, at all times.

Caroline sighed, pulling herself together and smoothing her appearance. She returned to her seat, holding herself upright like the poised, perfect debutant she was, up till the very last second as she half fell over Klaus with her unaccustomed plane legs.

He smirked.

She scowled.

His smirk grew.

Then his smug face faded to concern. "Are you – "

"I'm fine, thank you." She snipped, and the caring face retreated back into his very skin, a look of blank arrogance taking its place as if it were set in stone. It most likely had been.

"You don't look so good, sweetheart. How about a drink?" He gestured to the other sleeping passengers.

Caroline shot daggers at him. "Not thirsty. And even if I was, I'd rather jump from the plane."

"No need to be so appalled. It's your nature. Embrace it." He challenged.

She began to doubt herself, glancing towards the passengers again. It had been a while since her last, and that had been a deer in the forest. Not as filling as it should have been. The longer she went without, the more unstable she would be. But it was like trying to tempt a reformed alcoholic. Caroline was stronger than that, at least for now. She set her jaw and shook her head.

Klaus hid his impressed reaction from her. He admired how she clung to her humanity, pitiful and useless as it was sometimes. It would certainly be an experience to see her dark side, but he couldn't bear to see her light tainted that way. He shrugged at her refusal, rolling up a sleeve himself.

"A stronger substitute?"

"What is it with you and blood? More so me feeding from you?" She hissed in an undertone.

"Its an experience, Miss Forbes. You need to have more experiences, otherwise you aren't living." His eyes grew darker, their close proximity in the dimmed lighting of the cabin mixing with his darker ideas. "Not to mention how easy it is to reciprocate and allow me to feed from you. Hybrid bites are nasty things, but your blood is the most interesting thing I have tasted for centuries."

Caroline knew she should have been disgusted by all of this talk. Her seventeen-year-old self certainly was. But the new part of her, the sassy vampire part, was drawn to it. The very thought of exchanging blood with Klaus again brought a buzz to her body that she couldn't deny was bordering on lustful. She realised her lips had parted, and she snapped them shut.

"It's a bit risky, what with all the potential wrist make-outs. What would the air-hostesses think?" She said in an attempt to back out.

"What's life without a little risk?" He shot back with a grin, and leaned closer to her as if he was about to confess a secret. "Or if you want it from a more direct source, all you have to do is ask."

Caroline furrowed her brow in confusion until he tilted his head ever so slightly and she knew that he meant his neck.

She scoffed, half embarrassed. "Seriously?"

He rolled his eyes – clearly something he was starting to pick up from her to get to her level – and looked up at her through his lashes. "You need to live a little, love. Its not every day that the Original Hybrid offers you a drink from his own neck."

Her eyes strayed down to his lips, lingering there for a while before tracking down his jaw line to his throat. "Your ego needs deflating." She said, but without the force needed for him to take it seriously.

He watched her head tilt ever closer, and he pondered what her soft lips would be like against his throat, then his jaw, then his lips. He wondered how his mouth in return would be along the smooth column of her throat, and if given the choice, would he rise to meet her lips or fall to dust her collarbone with his hot mouth, dipping lower…No. He would meet her lips, if only just for that soft taste that he was craving every second after that stolen kiss in the cellar. He needed to kiss her with his own body, just to prove to her that he was infinitely more memorable than that hybrid boy, than the quarterback, than the infuriating Damon Salvatore, or any of her pathetic past lovers.

And then she'd be his, caught, and the game would be over.

Klaus was brought back from his musings by Caroline's pixie-like nose brushing against the underside of his jaw. His breath caught slightly, and he wondered if she really would give in.

"And I'm still not thirsty." She murmured, her sweet breath hitting his skin in a way that sent electricity racing through his skin. Caroline made to lean back away from him but Klaus turned to face her, their noses catching in a brush, their breath mingling in the small amount of air between them. His eyes were on hers, and it caught her for a moment. She found herself waiting, wanting, for him to close that inch between them. Of all the boys she had ever kissed, this man was the one who had never initiated it with her. And he still didn't. So they remained caught in this moment, every inhale blending with another exhale. Caroline's eyes closed, heavy with the weight of such a moment. It brought some clarity to Klaus.

"Open your eyes," He said, his voice a low rasp with its huskiness. "Please," He added, when she didn't do so immediately.

Her sky blue eyes rose up to his again, and he finally moved. Klaus brushed his mouth across her cheekbone.

"Tell me when." He whispered against her satin soft skin, the hum of his dark voice sending vibrations across her skin that made her shudder. She didn't know whether he meant for her to tell him when she was thirsty or when she wanted to give in, but she knew that he awoke something within her that made her breathless and desirous and hungry.


	5. St Petersburg - Part 1

"Welcome to St Petersburg." Klaus stated as they left the airport terminal in a black car that had been waiting for them. He drove, for Caroline still knew absolutely nothing of what he had planned and therefore couldn't take the reigns on anything. That was bugging her more than she let on. She let it go for now as she took in the city zooming into view before her, the block buildings and the arcing lines of the cathedral.

"Why here? Why start in Russia?" Caroline questioned, wondering at the reasons to start here.

"Why not Russia?" Klaus answered casually. "It's a city with history, a culture completely different to America." He shot a glance at her sideways before continuing. "And I may have plans to travel from here. Not by plane." He assured her as her fingers clenched. Caroline, like many travelers, had been fine throughout the flight, but had panicked upon the landing, her nails digging into Klaus' hand. She had wondered why he had not said a word about it, even after she had drawn blood. It wasn't like him to not say anything about something like that. But he hadn't brought it up, and neither would she, for she was grateful for it.

"Good. How long will we be here for?"

"Only today. Then a night in the hotel before we board…before we board whatever mode of transport is next."

"Hmm." Caroline mused, wondering what it could be. She stared out the window at the passing cobbled streets. "I always did love Anastasia. You know, the movie from 1997." She clarified. "Not all of us are ancient enough to recall the Romanovs personally."

Klaus merely exhaled through his nose in a laugh at her jab. He was beginning to see that sometimes she meant it as teasing rather than harshness.

"Did you actually know them?" She asked brightly, trying to hide her eagerness for his tales and failing.

"Yes."

"Really? How?"

"I came as a diplomat to the court. The family took a liking to me." He glanced over as Caroline scoffed. "Well, some aren't as hard to persuade as you, love."

She rolled her eyes and nodded for him to continue.

"I became quite close with the daughters. Olga was charming, as was Tatiana. Marie was quiet but artistic. And Anastasia was very cheeky. Alexei I was never close to, he was quite shy, but he did play a few pranks on Rebekah at the state dinners." Klaus chuckled slightly at the memory. "He reminded me of my younger brother in some ways…"

"Of Kol?" Caroline asked, though she was perceptive enough to see that it wasn't Kol he thought of.

Klaus shook his head, becoming his composed, present self again, far from his memories.

"Then whom?"

"Perhaps another time, little one."

"What about the family's imprisonment?" She asked softly to change track, knowing very little about the Romanov's aside from the tragedy surrounding their death.

"They were royalty. It was a shame. But such is life."

She shook her head at his harsh words. "I don't believe that you didn't feel anything for their death."

"Well, I didn't. It was a loss, but not something felt. I rarely have feelings, Caroline." He said shortly, silencing her for the rest of the drive.

Caroline understood then that he was at a loss for why he felt anything for her, if he indeed did 'fancy' her. He rarely felt things as it was. She set it as her mission for him to feel again before the trip was through, even if it didn't stop him being ruthless. It was better to feel than to become nothing but a deadly walking corpse.

While Klaus went to secure the room at the hotel, Caroline took the opportunity to powder her nose and, more importantly, check the messages still on her phone.

\- Caroline, where are you? Call me back when you get this text. - Stefan

\- Care, its not like you to have your phone off. Call me now. Elena's in danger. – Stefan

Caroline panicked, leaving the rest of the texts to listen to the remaining voicemails.

"Caroline, its Stefan. Please pick up your phone. Call me back when you get this. I'll ring Bonnie now, maybe she's with you."

"Care, Elena's been hurt. We need you back here. Please stop, turn around and come back as soon as you get this. Love you." Bonnie sounded absolutely shaken, which was always a bad sign. If something shook the ever-steady Bonnie Bennett, then the world was about to get crazy.

"Barbie Vamp. Get your butt here to the hospital now. No jokes." Damon. Shit.

"Care, hey, its me. We really need you here now. Elena needs you. I kinda need you too. Had a scare tonight, and I need a Caroline moment. Call back." Matt's voice sounded raspy, like he'd been through a lot.

"Care, Bonnie just told me. I know you think that this will protect everyone, but that might not be the main problem anymore. Elena was in a car crash, and she didn't make it. Meredith gave her some blood before when she passed out. She's…she's one of us now, Care. She's a vampire. She's in transition. We need you here. She needs you. I…I need you here. To keep us all strong. Call me back as soo-" The message beeped, the timed message slot filled before Stefan's voicemail ended.

Caroline stood there, shaken to the core. She almost missed the message following Stefan's.

Tyler's.

"Caroline, its me. I just got my car back. My mom doesn't know about anything that happened tonight, with the body swap and the almost dying and you and me…well. Your mom and mine still think we've skipped town to get away from the mob. So I'm going. And I don't want it to end this way. So I'll tr-" The message beeped again, and she had to fight the urge to smash her phone against the wall.

"Care, everything's going to hell. If you're not back here by sundown, I'm going to try to save Elena myself…wish me luck, and I love you, my sister, so much…" Bonnie's last message disturbed her, and then there was nothing else left in her voicemail box to tell her what happened next.

She did the math…Elena had been turned the night she had been in the cellar with Tyler/Klaus. That would have given her a whole day to complete the transition, which meant that by the time she had boarded the plane, Elena may have died…or become part of the undead.

Caroline blurred through the digits of Elena's mobile, her shaky hands stuffing it up and requiring her to do it again. With every ring, she wanted to reach through the phone and wave her hands to get her friends attention on the other side. Let her be there. Let her be there. Please, just let her be there.

Finally,

"Care?" Elena's small voice sounded absolutely scared and alone, but alive. Or as alive as she could be right then and there.

"Ohmigod, Elena, whatthehellhappened, IwanttocomehomerightnowbutIc an't, godareyoualright?" Caroline rushed through the phone.

"Woah, slow, Care, its okay. I'm fine. I just…had an accident, and then this happened." That meant that she understood Caroline's top speed speech. That meant that she was something else. Did she complete it? She must have.

"Have you…? Did you complete it? The transition?"

A rush of static indicated one of Elena's famous breathless sighs. "Bonnie did something, some sort of dark magic. It gave me more time. I don't know how she did it, but whatever it was put a wedge between us. She's something else now too, Care. She's changed."

"Wow." Was all Caroline could respond with.

There was silence on the other end for a second before Elena drew breath to speak again. "Caroline…I'm scared." She said with the softest voice Caroline had ever heard. It broke her heart.

"I'll start running now. Klaus wont suspect it. I'll hop on a plane and come back, and we'll figure all this out, and-"

"No, you should stay there."

"What?! No, Elena, don't martyr yourself, just let me get back home and we'll be fine-"

"It's better if you keep Klaus occupied over there. The Originals have scattered on this side."

"Wait, what? Why?"

"Long story. Just stay there, you'll be okay."

"No way, if there's some other trouble, I'm coming home to help you."

"Care, you should stay there. I've got Stefan and Damon and Bonnie and Jeremy and Matt to help me. I'll be fine. Its you that I'm worried about."

"Ah, don't worry about me, 'Lena. You know us Forbes women. We're tough as all hell."

"Just keep taking care of yourself." Elena said. "Have you done what you need to do?"

"Huh?"

"You know…figured out everything with Klaus?"

"Not yet…"

"Care." Elena could tell her struggle through the damn phone. That girl had a gift. "Give him a chance. It's the people who love the least who need love the most. And I know you're the one with more than enough love."

"That's really sweet, E, but you've gotta stop using the l word. That's not a welcome word around here."

A door opened and she realized it was on Elena's end of the line. "Gotta go. Love you so much, call me when you can, don't worry about the time difference."

"Love you too, but wait, Ele-" The line beeped, and she was gone.

Elena was almost a vampire.

Shit.

And there was something else happening in Mystic Falls.

Some other trouble

Double shit.

Caroline returned to Klaus a little breathless and shaken, setting him on edge.

"What happened?"

"Mmm?" She blinked, and returned to her normal self, putting her thoughts away in a box. "Oh, nothing. Just feeling the jet lag a little, that's all. Now, are we going to see this city or what?"

Klaus narrowed his eyes, but held the front door open for her, and they set off into the fresh Russian morning.

Klaus escorted her to the State Hermitage Museum, which Caroline knew about despite not having experienced the world first hand. She had occasionally found travel and cultural books in the library – yes, the blonde vampire cheerleader did read, thank you very much – and had read them, imagining an escape from Mystic Falls, before laughing at herself and questioning why she would want to leave in the first place when her whole life was in her little town.

Klaus said very little, merely taking in a little of the art for himself and spending most of the time watching Caroline.

He noted where she would go first in the room, how she would try to travel in the opposite direction to the crowd so she would be able to take in the artwork without interference.

He watched to see which artworks would hold her attention and which she would pass by; many portraits or paintings with people were favored along with some colorful landscape artworks.

He saw how she would scan the painting she was interested in slowly from top to bottom before reading the wall label, and then taking in the artwork with a more critical eye.

He took in her thoughtful face, her contemplative face, her look of sheer wonder.

He saw her get lost in thought in front of 'The Stolen Kiss' by Fragonard.

When Caroline finally came out of her little art world bubble, she sighed, blinked, and looked at him.

"Thank you." She said with sincerity. She may have been thanking him for the hours spent in the gallery, the time spent in silence, or the opportunity only just beginning. Either way, he was warmed by the fact that he was being thanked for something so small. He could give her everything, and he planned on it, but unlike all of his other acts in life that were negotiated to benefit him in the end, he did it all for her company.

Of course, when she finally gave her whole self to him, he would most likely tire of her and leave. It was what he did best, it was the game to him.

But for now, he liked the smallest wonders about her. He was intrigued.

After a lunch of pirozhki from a nearby bakery, they took in the cathedrals of the city. Caroline felt human again in front of such beautiful, colossal buildings. She was aware of her own insignificance against such wonders, and she felt glad for it.

She turned to see Klaus with a similar expression on his face.

"What are you thinking about?" Caroline asked on impulse, and she was happy when he replied sincerely.

"Architecture like this always renders me humble. If there is one thing on this Earth that I have always respected and accepted to have power over me, it is magnificent things such as this." He caught her impressed expression and knew he had to revert back to his masked self. "That also includes you, little one. Thought you're the only thing to be added to the list in a few centuries."

"What else makes the cut then?" She asked, rolling her eyes but playing along.

"Cathedrals, monuments, artworks, my family – at times."

"Well its nice to see I'm in such high regard as objects and the family you kept daggered for at least a century each." She remarked dryly.

He scowled. "Well, you're still here now, aren't you?"

It was true. She was voluntarily here with him regardless of his actions, and he had not, for want of a better word, disposed of her despite the many risks she took with his temper.

She shook her blonde curls with a huff and concentrated on the marble of Saint Issac's Cathedral. They walked with the throngs of tourists, and Caroline tilted her head back to gaze at the domed ceiling, spying the sculpted dove suspended there in the light that poured in through the windows.

Klaus let her wander for a bit before she strolled near him again.

"There used to be many other artworks in here."

"Really?" Caroline glanced at the many brightly colored paintings around them. "There seem to be plenty here."

"There were more. Karl Bryullov did some. He was a historical painter. I helped him with some of the finer details for the paintings of historical scenes, since I had lived through most of them, though he didn't know of it."

Caroline scoffed at his blatant bragging, but let him continue. "So what happened to the art?"

"The cathedral was not the most ideal conditions for such works. They deteriorated, and orders were given for them to be reproduced into mosaics, since that method was the most popular at the time. But most of them were never finished."

"That's too bad." They walked a little further till they came across more paintings of the Virgin Mary.

"Did you do any of the paintings here?"

Klaus smirked. "How kind of you to think that highly of me. But no, I helped the painters, but I did none of the painting."

"Why?"

"Needed to keep a low profile. My father was starting to catch up with us. He was starting to send us signs, in his own ruthless way."

Caroline mused on his father's behavior. How terrible, to be hated by someone who should love you. She knew the feeling well, with her own father. But what he had done for her was, in a very twisted way, done out of love. He couldn't accept who she was, but he had tried to save her from what he considered to be a doomed fate. But Mikael's rage was born from the fact that his son was not his own, and he blamed Klaus for that.

She carefully, subtly, linked hands with the most dangerous man on the planet. He showed no sign of noticing, aside from the small smile that played around his lips. They continued their stroll past the columns of stone.

"There's another reason why I brought you here." Klaus confessed, changing route and pulling her slightly along with him till they came to columns of lapis-lazuli. He stood with her in a patch of sunlight in the square that the columns created.

"Take off your ring."

"What?!"

Klaus gave her a look as he fiddled with the ring on her finger caught between their clasped hands. "Trust me, my lovely little one."

"You know, if you have to ask someone to trust you, you probably shouldn't trust them." She commented, but he continued to give her the puppy dog eye. Caroline exhaled and nodded, letting him remove the ring.

She shut her eyes, preparing for the burn that should have followed, but none came. She opened her eyes and looked up at the sunlight streaming through the stain glass windows.

"How…?"

"A couple of witches helped me while the cathedral was being constructed. They spelled the stone, the very same that allows us to walk during the day. Elijah had the idea at the time. It's rather comical, that a place of religion such as this is a sanctuary, even for creatures of the dark." Klaus stepped back to take in the sight of Caroline lit up by the shades of the stained glass. "You're not, though. You're a creature of the light."

His gaze was so sincere, and yet at the same time there was that desire hidden behind his eyes that made her feel like he wanted to consume her. She supposed that was the main attraction, the contrast of their light and darkness.

Either way, she met his gaze for a while before looking away, feigning indifference. She tilted her head to the sun again, closing her eyes and feeling the rays kiss her face. There was an odd thrill she took from being in the sunlight without the weight of her ring reminding her of the creature she had been transformed into. She felt…risky. Dangerous. Wild.

It was wonderful.

Caroline turned back to Klaus with a sigh, raising her palm.

"Can I have my ring back now?"

He twirled the ring around his finger. "This ring?"

She scowled. She should have known he would play some sort of game. "Yes."

"You want me to return it to you?"

"Yes."

"How much?"

Caroline crossed her arms and only just held herself back from stamping her foot like a child. "I will not bargain with you."

Klaus nodded, drawing closer and taking her hand. "Easy, love. Hold your fire within you for now. I promise to only provoke it at the best of times." He placed the ring back where it belonged on her index finger, brushing a kiss across her knuckles before stepping away again. She suppressed a shiver and scowled at him. He smiled sweetly back at her.

"Alright, time to go, sweetheart. It's almost the end of the day, and we still have a full night ahead of us."


	6. St Petersburg - Part 2

Klaus had clearly made a mistake giving Caroline some privacy to get ready. He had done everything right: bought her an evening dress, booked the tickets, not pressured her (at least not today) and she still tested his patience by being late.

Just as he was about to storm back up to the room, Caroline walked into the hotel foyer and left him speechless.

The black cocktail dress he had picked out was superb, draping and wrapping intimately around her every curve. Her hair was pinned back from her face, allowing her curls to tumble down her smooth back. She walked across the lobby to meet him, her heels making a perfect percussive beat for her to move to.

Klaus slowly let his eyes glide from the tips of her Louis Vuitton shoes, up her endless legs, appreciating every curve till he reached her face, and his mouth was dry.

"Ravishing as always, sweetheart."

Caroline beamed, radiant.

"But you're late."

Her smile faded, but she raised an eyebrow. Surely she had to know what she was doing to him?

She strutted past him, taking care to sway her hips seductively. "Then stop looking like you're the big bad wolf and lets go."

He watched her walk to the door and noted the red backs of those devil shoes. He certainly didn't mind being referred to as the Big Bad Wolf if she was going to be Little Red.

Klaus followed after her like he was on the hunt.

Caroline was not at all surprised to find he had booked a private stall when they reached the theatre. Neither was she surprised that it was somewhere as nice as the Mariinsky Theatre to see Swan Lake.

"Wouldn't have picked you as one to see a ballet in your spare time." She commented as they took their seats.

"I like all the arts, Caroline. Surely you know that by now."

The lights dimmed, and she was very aware of how close their seats were and how Klaus' body heat reached her even through his immaculate suit.

"Sure, you're just saying that, and then you'll fall asleep fifteen minutes in." Caroline scoffed, trying to break the sudden intimacy that had settled on them in the dim light.

"With something lovely to watch onstage while something so exquisite sits next to me? I'm certain I'll stay awake." His voice purred in the dark, and she had to turn her attention to the stage in the hopes that she could be distracted.

"I'm sure you're just imagining how the prima ballerina's blood would taste." She said bitterly.

"I had a ballerina once. Very flexible, but absolutely nothing special about their blood. Most half starve themselves to death for their art." Klaus glanced over to Caroline to see what she thought of his past, feeling pleased at the flash of jealously that passed across her face.

It was gone in an instant once she realized that he had obviously had other conquests over the years, and that he was trying to provoke her.

"Perhaps I should take up a ballerino, then." She mused, eyeing the male lead as he twirled the tutu-clad ballerina around in impossible circles. "Flexible, but strong, not starved, and attentive."

Klaus bit back his snarl at the thought of her with another man, turning it into a scoff. "You might have been correct up till attentive. Ballerino and ballerina alike, they're very egotistical."

"Oh, then you'd fit in perfectly." She swiped, not even bothering to tear her eyes away from the majestic display as the Prince lifted Odette.

"Well I don't mind that comparison. Does that also mean that I fit in with your ballerino rat pack?"

"Only if you're also a gentleman, which sadly, I don't think you are."

"Such words wound, Miss Forbes. I have been nothing but a gentleman."

"You are nothing but a rogue." She shot, tucking her hair to let it fall over her left side.

"I'll accept that for some instances." He murmured, tracing two fingers along the curve of her right shoulder to her neck under the thinly veiled excuse to tuck a wayward curl back into its pin. She suppressed a shiver, fixing her eyes on the stage, choosing to ignore him in the hope that she could also ignore the warmth growing in her abdomen at his touch. His hand travelled up further to sit on the nape of her neck, gently stroking the strands of her golden hair. His palm was warm against her vertebrae bone, but she found herself wondering what his touch would feel like elsewhere, perhaps her hipbone for a start. Caroline closed her eyes with a faint sigh, before opening them to continue watching the ballet. Klaus noticed her sky blue eyes had darkened to indigo, and he kept his hand there for the remainder of the performance till interval.

As the lights came up, Caroline dipped her neck away from Klaus' touch, and once again he let her go. He would advance as far forward as she let him, but if she shied away from him, he would not push her. She could not be pushed.

Caroline ran down the corridor, past the many lockers, trying to escape. She twisted and turned…and suddenly found the monster standing in front of her.

Alaric.

She gasped, whirling around to sprint, but he was already there, blocking her way.

"Hello, Caroline. Miss me?"

"Stay away from me, or you'll regret it." She snarled, her fierce words marred by the steps she took away from him.

"Doubt it." He laughed cruelly before flinging a vervain dart at her. It exploded into her bloodstream like a thousand watts, and she cried out, falling to the ground. Another dart hit her, and the pain stabbed at her like fire and ice. She thrashed on the lino floor, sobbing.

"No, please, stop,"

"Oh, sure. No more vervain darts." Alaric said sardonically, pulling out a gun. "But wooden bullets? Why not?" He almost lazily cocked the gun and shot, lodging a bullet in Caroline's shoulder. He waited till she had fished it out, blood coating her fingers, before sending another one into her leg.

"Stop, make it stop!"

"Make me."

Caroline found a strength pushing her up from the floor, gathering behind her arms so she could pounce at Alaric. His eyes widened, and she felt like she was finally conquering her fear…till he pulled out a stake and she fell onto it, screaming, clutching at her chest and twisting away from arms that tried to cradle her.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" She whimpered, finally waking up fully and curling into a ball. Klaus looked back at her, waiting to see her reaction.

"You're okay. You're safe now."

"I can't believe that." She said bluntly, and was surprised when he flinched.

"Well you should."

"Maybe."

Klaus watched as the girl sighed, curling under the covers again.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." Her voice was muffled by the sheets she had buried herself in.

"Fine." He shrugged, leaving her alone and returning to the other bed. After she had caused a fuss, he had found a room with two double beds, just so he wouldn't have to take the sofa again. He settled back into the sheets, keeping an eye on her. He waited for her breathing to even out again before sleeping as well. Though his patience was fading and his harsh side returning after so much rejection, he still wished he could comfort her like she needed to be comforted.

Caroline woke up two hours later alone after peaceful, lonely dreams. The sun hadn't risen yet, it was only just about to turn four in the morning. She lay curled on her side for a while, remembering who she was, where she was, why she was here, who she was with. Then she listened to the sound of her breathing. Then she broadened that to the sound of someone else's breathing. She sat up a little against the headboard to look across to see him.

Klaus was stretched out on the bed, not looking comfortable or restful. Yet his face was certainly smoother, boyish almost. She giggled softly to herself at the thought, and the soft noise was enough to make him flash his eyes open before realising there was no one coming to get him, and he closed them once more.

Caroline tilted her head. How long had he been on the run to have such awareness even in rest? She bit her lip, not sure whether her talk would make him irritable. But she figured she could at least try. Wasn't that what she was doing on this trip in the first place?

"Klaus," She called softly, the word dying out in the middle and trailing off to nothing as she chickened out. But Klaus heard all the same, and sat up this time, immediately on guard.

"What is it, love?" His voice was a contradiction, gruff with sleep but soft with caring. Clearly he wasn't his full self-confident self.

"How awake are you?" Her small voice continued, unwilling to break through the darkness of the very early morning.

"Awake enough." He sighed, and she smiled a little, because the words were innocent enough, but she knew that had he said it in fully waking hours, it would have been far more suggestive.

"Do you want to talk?"

"Of course."

Those two words shouldn't have made her smile grow, but they did, and she was beginning to accept that.

"What brought this about?" He asked, sitting up a bit more where he was and facing the sound of her voice.

"Purely selfish reasons." She answered truthfully.

"What are they?"

"Couldn't sleep, couldn't relax, and…" She was allowed to be honest in the dark, right? "And it'd be nice to get to know you." She admitted.

He stared at her from across the room, and even if she couldn't fully read it in the dark, it didn't stop it from getting under her skin. So she wriggled down slightly till she was looking up at the ceiling again.

She listened as his weight shifted on the bed, heard his feet pad over, and felt his presence settle on the side of her mattress. She was thankful that he kept his distance, not touching her, only moving to see her face. Creepy, but vaguely endearing. Odd how she was starting to see that.

"So what do you want to talk about?" He asked casually, and she faintly remembered that similar conversation in reverse back in Mystic Falls, what seemed like centuries ago.

"Anything."  
"Like?"

"Like…your favourite colour." She winced. Had she seriously just asked the deadliest man on Earth what his favourite colour was? How childish.

"Yellow."

"Just like that?"

He let out a breath that sounded vaguely like a laugh, but she knew he didn't laugh that much, surely he couldn't laugh that much, even around her. "Surprised?"

"I wouldn't have expected it to be something like that."

He settled more firmly on the bed. She glanced over to find he was sitting cross-legged. "I like contradictions, when they go my way. And I find myself drawn to opposites."

She swallowed, aware of her own brightness and how it contrasted his darkness.

"What about you?"

She pursed her lips, giving the tiny question thought. "Blue, I think. Or teal."

"Because there is such a difference."

He could almost hear her roll her eyes in the dark.

"Of course they're different."

"How?"

"Well, blue is just blue. But I like teal now, cause its such a different blend." She cut herself off quickly before she started rambling about how she had come to the colour itself after spending time pondering just what shade of blue his eyes were.

"Interesting." He mused, and she felt a serious jolt of fear that he could really read minds and he had just failed to tell them about this crazy old-vampire ability.

"Well then you come up with a good question." She said, rolling over on her side so she could see him.

He looked up to the ceiling for a moment, actually contemplating. "What's your first memory?

"Gosh," She exhaled, fluttering her eyes slightly. "You're pulling out the deep questions early."

He merely shrugged, waiting for her answer with a concentration that was both disconcerting and flattering.

"Um, lets see." She closed her eyes, picturing the scene in front of her. "My first memory is of my mom and dad and I making a snowman on the front lawn at Christmas time when I was three. I really didn't like my snow gloves, so I kept pulling them off with my teeth so I could form the snowman's neck with my fingers. I liked feeling the snow. My mom kept putting them back on my hands, but my dad understood, so he got me to lie down and make a snow angel next to the snowman. And I loved that, cause the snow was all around me, and the snowflakes fell on my face, and my hands weren't as cold." She opened her eyes to find his looking at her with such soft emotions on his face that it threw her back into self-consciousness. "Meaningless, maybe, but it was also a time that I wasn't fully aware of whether or not my parents still loved each other, it was more a given thing, something you assumed cause it just had to be true. And I like snow. So there. Your turn."

He boldly lay down next to her to stare at the ceiling. She startled a little, but relaxed next to him as he just lay there thinking. She was very aware of the two and a half inches between them.

"There was a field near our house that was specifically ours. That's the spot we claimed, my siblings and I. We used to go there whenever we wanted a bit of space. My father didn't know that I wasn't his by then, but he was starting to come to the conclusion slowly. I must have been…five, or six? Not a very young memory, but that's the one I can recall. Finn and Elijah were play fighting with swords, and I wanted to join in, but I couldn't. Rebekah was still not born yet, and Kol was three, still too young to join us. So I climbed a tree till I was away from it all, and I could just sit in the branches and feel the sun and wind on my face. It was wonderful." He smirked. "Of course after that I fell trying to climb back down. Finn was concerned, but impassive – he knew that I'd get hurt somehow, and it might have taught me a lesson. Elijah was worried, almost like a mother hen. It was only a scar, though. At least my first wasn't to my fathers hand."

He lay staring at the ceiling for a while before catching her eye again. They stared at each other quietly in the dark. She broke the stillness with a quick inhalation of air.

"Can I see it? Your scar."

He frowned slightly, clearly not liking the idea of anyone seeing his weaknesses, but he raised the arm closest to her and twisted it slightly till the white jagged line of the old scar could be seen.

She ran two fingers slowly over it without much thought, and let them rest against his skin even after he had lowered his arm again.

"Favourite letter of the alphabet?"

He scoffed at the absurdity of her question, but he knew it was said just to rescue him from reminiscing about the past.

"A."

"Lemme guess, cause it stands for alpha."

"You know me so well." He smiled sweetly down at her, and was rewarded with an eye roll, her fingers lightly scratching once against his skin before subconsciously settling into a light, soothing circling pattern.

"Mine is E. Although I've always had a soft spot for Q."

He looked at her incredulously.

"It barely gets used! But when it does, it usually has U as a buddy. That's nice."

"Are you high, love?"

She buried her face into her pillow, but he smoothed back her hair so he could see her still. She looked up at him with one eye, the other still hidden in the pillow. Her circles paused for a moment, then continued as he moved his hand away from her golden hair and back down to his side.

"Your question now." She murmured, the sound getting lost in the pillow.

"Any bad habit?"

"Hmm, where do I begin…" She mused softly, and chuckled when he growled lowly like an irritated lion. "You're the one who asked."

"Only because I knew whatever habit you claimed to be bad couldn't be all that terrible." He gazed down at her gently. "You need to see yourself in a brighter light, sweetheart."

"Just for the record, I think that's one of your bad habits. Calling people sweetheart and love and that."

"If you haven't noticed, you're the only one I've been calling those things since I met you." Because I didn't mean them before, but I mean them now. He added in his mind. He'd not admit that to her till he thought it wouldn't be wasted air.

"Still makes it a bad habit." She noted the sour look on his face. "Maybe just a habit." She amended.

They lay quietly for a moment before he brought her attention back to the conversation.

"So are you going to answer the question?"

She shrugged, tracing a star onto his arm with a feather light touch.

"Don't we have to leave at some point? Or is this the extent of the world?"

"We'll be leaving at about 10:15 this morning. We've got some time."

"Where are we going?

"You'll see when we get there."

She frowned at that, but let it slide. For the moment.

"Where have you been, then? You know I've never been anywhere, but where have you been?"

He chuckled, the small sound so intimate this close in the dark. "The question probably should be where haven't I been."

"Go on, then."

"Antarctica, Hawaii, a couple of territories in Africa, and one of the Baltic States."

"But everywhere else?"

"Yes. I've been everywhere else. A thousand years gives you plenty of time to travel. Particularly when you're trying to find a doppelganger."

Her fingers flinched away from his arm.

"We probably shouldn't talk about that."

"Caroline, you should try to understand. I've had a part of me buried for centuries, had part of who I was meant to be locked inside me for almost my whole life. I didn't feel complete the whole time, didn't seem truly real. And I've seen wars and famines and disasters, death every day. So a sacrifice for my selfish self didn't seem that awful."

"I do understand that slightly, but you killed innocent people."

"Innocent people die every day, love."

"You sacrificed innocent people I care about. Innocent people who had lives and families that they were torn from by your hand."

They reached a silent impasse. Klaus realised that he would have to change to fully be with Caroline, and Caroline recognised the fact that Klaus could never be a good man for her. And neither was comfortable with facing that right now, certainly not thinking about the ramifications.

So Caroline sighed, rolling out of bed to go curl up on the wide windowsill that faced the cobbled stone streets and Dvortsovaya Place, the Palace Square. The sun wasn't yet peeking over the horizon, but its light wasn't too far away, and the sky had the spooky before dawn gleam to it. The glow illuminated her face in a way that Klaus knew he could not catch on paper, regardless of his talent. So he simply admired it from the bed, tracing every feature with his eyes.

Come back to bed, love, he wanted to say.

Its not all what you think it is, sweetheart, he wanted to tell her.

Meet me halfway, he would have said.

But he found he couldn't draw breath.


	7. Take the A Train

"Give it a chance, love." Klaus encouraged as they sat on a train to Vienna. He had figured it to be the smartest way for her to see the world by taking the scenic route, and he certainly didn't mind being in a small cabin with her like this. Besides, train travel reminded him of a simpler time before airports and airplanes and air travel.

This train in particular was meant for him. It was in the style of the 1920's trains, as the Orient Express had been running from the 1880's, but the Roaring Twenties had been a time of great evolution in travel. It had all the class of the times, and he certainly loved to revel in those days, those happy jazz days with Rebekah and his newfound brother Stefan.

Of course, they didn't last, but then again, if they had, he may have never found Caroline, the angelic ray of sunshine. Or at least that was how she had been before. Now, she sat across from him just as she had been in the hotel that morning – quiet, stone faced, not even looking out the window. She had been in some inner conflict since they had left St Petersburg , ever since their conversation.

He didn't want to admit it, but he was beginning to wonder if he could bring her out of the turmoil of her head. He hadn't had to deal with this before. Bekah usually just raged like he would. Neither of them had been one to stew and not speak, or rather shout, their feelings. It unnerved him.

Klaus knew that it was Mystic Falls that haunted her mind, and he tried to change their situation with playfulness.

"Just try it. We'll pretend that you didn't try to kill me and my family, and I didn't try to do the same to you."

She looked up at him, caught between a glare and guilt.

He smirked, one corner of his mouth higher than the other.

"We'll just be two people getting to know each other on a train."

She didn't show any sign of agreeing, but Klaus sensed a shift in her demeanor that prompted him. If he was to act ridiculous, so be it. Just to put that sunshine smile on her face for a second.

"I'll start." He abruptly got up and left the compartment, shocking Caroline with his playfulness.

Klaus knocked on the door as he opened it.

"Hello. Is this compartment A?"

She looked searchingly at him before nodding, not wanting to give into his little game but wondering where he would lead it.

"Ah. I'm terribly sorry, I'm afraid I've been assigned to this compartment as well. Seems that they didn't have enough room. Mind if I sit down?"

Caroline shook her head, and Klaus sat on the plush seat opposite her again.

"I'm Niklaus, by the way." He held his hand out for her to shake, and Caroline looked incredulously at him.

He bit back a sigh. "What, do I need a new accent to please you? Shall I be American?" He said with the new inflections, and Caroline wrinkled her nose.

"Perhaps a bit of Australian?"

She made a face.

"Could I be Italiano?"

She forced the smile off her face as it tried to make her mouth climb.

"Español?"

"No." Caroline let a laugh escape her lips. "No. You're English. Always stay English."

Klaus caught her gaze. "Always." He responded with the barest hint of a smile. "Well, if my lady commands."

Caroline rolled her eyes at him, and he smiled, pleased to have his feisty, bright angel return to him.

"Very well, then. I'm my English self. What's your name, lovely?"

She blinked, then recalled the game and settled back into her seat with a sigh. "Caroline. As in, 'sweet Caroline'." She sang quietly.

"Sweet Caroline." Klaus echoed the words in a way that made her self-conscious.

"What shall I call you, then?" She asked.

He shrugged. "Some of my siblings call me Nick, many other people call me Klaus. You may call me whatever name you desire, aside from Nikky. Neither of us would survive that."

"Very well, then, Niklaus – "

"Don't, love. I take back what I said. You may call me almost any name you desire. Niklaus is really only reserved for when I'm In serious trouble." His eyes had a way of shining whenever he said a word like 'trouble'. It gave Caroline a tingle in the pit of her stomach.

"Then I suppose I'll call you Niklaus every few minutes." She replied, and he chuckled.

"Very well, as you wish. Only if that is what you want."

Damn his accent and the way he turned a small word like want into want. It made the word all that more want-able. She should have asked him to change his accent while she had the chance. English accents had the ability to charm the panties off any girl.

Focus, Caroline!

"Klaus, then."

"Yes?"

"What do you do for a living?"

"I'm an architect." He replied instantly, and she raised an eyebrow. "I do also dabble in other arts, but a man's got to make a living somehow."

She scoffed, and he smiled ever so slightly. "What do you do then, my lovely?"

"I'm an event planner." She said, and he quirked his head.

"What?" Caroline asked.

"I thought you would have been…some other profession." He said, recalling their talk on the bench by the Grill before everything went to hell.

She frowned, clearly thinking about that day. "Well, I always thought I would be a real estate agent, as you probably suppose, but I took a risk and left my old town to pursue something I figure is worthwhile." Caroline noted the thoughtful look on his face and cursed her own words. "And I think my job is worthwhile. My career. As an event manager. That's the worthwhile thing I'm pursuing. Yes." She cleared up.

It didn't wipe the calculating look off his face, much to her dismay. But he let it slide. For now.

"Why are you on the train today, then?"

"Cause this control freak didn't tell me the plan and I was just tagging along stupidly." She spat out, and backed up after she was his face fall towards the I'm-going-to-kill-the-innocent look. "Someone promised to show me the world." She sighed.

"What a coincidence, I promised to show someone the world." He returned to his chipper mood, and she didn't know what to think. She figured it was easiest to continue to play along with his games. A happy Klaus was much more likely to be a peaceful one. Besides, they were going to be stuck here all day and night, she may as well be pleasant.

"Where are you from?" Caroline asked.

"Everywhere." Klaus answered, and she rolled her eyes.

"Fine, then, smart alec. Where's your favorite place?"

He actually took a moment to respond, which she knew now to be a sign that he would reply honestly. She didn't know when she had started reading his body language and knowing the signs he gave, but she didn't pay too much mind to it. It helped her understand him.

"I do like Great Britain in general, though that's far too cliché I suppose. Madrid is always colorful. And Naples is charming. But I think I'm happy anywhere, really. It's the people that make a place for me."

"Does that mean you're a people person?" She said almost teasingly. She couldn't imagine him being happy schmoosing it and being social.

"Not quite. Perhaps I should rephrase that. If I am in good company, then I am home." Klaus amended.

"So where are you now?" Caroline asked softly before she could stop herself. She knew what his answer would be, and she found herself hoping for it, despite the absolute corniness.

He locked eyes with her, and she burned. "I'm home."

"Well that's nice of you to claim me as good company." She managed to say.

"I'm not saying you are good company, love. I'm saying you are excellent company."

"You really ought to stop with all of that, or I'll just become egotistical." Caroline said, feeling the oncoming feeling of a blush and, like when she was in middle school, fighting in vain to control it.

"Why would I when you're becoming that delicious color?" Klaus smirked, having the audacity to lick his lips and thoroughly distracting her for a moment.

"Well you don't see me trying to do the same to you. And for a good reason." She shot at him.

"And what is that, sweetheart?"

"Because we wouldn't want to inflate your ego any more than necessary." Caroline said sweetly. He chuckled, and she smiled a little before going back to gazing out the window at the passing green scenery.

Klaus didn't disturb her for a while, allowing her some solitary silence in his company. He had travelled for years with Bekah and knew that sometimes you really didn't need any chatter. Though he could easily talk with the lovely Miss Forbes for the entire 32 hours of the train ride, he didn't have quite enough faith in himself to believe that she would willingly stay. She had certainly beaten back his ego. But no matter. He would win her eventually.

And then what?

He hadn't thought that far ahead. And he found he didn't want to.

But that would imply caring. And if there was one thing Klaus Mikaelson didn't do, it was caring. He did not care. Not one bit.

Sometime after a simple quiet sandwich lunch, Caroline pinched a book from his bag at random and cracked it open to read.

Klaus looked up from his sketching of a Monet inspired landscape as the afternoon sun streamed through the window and was momentarily stunned by the angel with a halo of golden hair he was privileged to sit across from. He couldn't tell what it was that caught him; the look on her face as she became lost in the story she read, the way the sun illuminated her eyes, making them sparkle like a Caribbean sea, the shadow of her lashes feathering across her cheekbones, or the lock of hair that she was twirling between the fingers of her spare hand.

When Caroline looked up at him between chapters, she found him sketching. She thought nothing unusual of it till she recognised the drawing in his hands.

"What are you doing?"

"Don't move, love. Just stay where you were before." His tone was serious, like his life depended on capturing her essence on paper. She had absolutely no clue how he could be so intent on doing something so simple. But she moved slightly till she was back in position, her feet curled up on the seat.

"You were biting your lip before." Klaus said with a frown.

She looked at him, startled. "Was I?"

He glanced up at her for a moment, eyes on fire. "Yes."

Without breaking away from his mesmerizing gaze, Caroline took the corner of her lower lip between her teeth. He nodded once with a half-smirk before returning to his sketching.

Caroline had never modeled before. She had never had to sit for a portrait. She had never been someone's muse. And now Klaus devoted all of his attention on her. It was…empowering, in a sense. She wondered how many people he had drawn before. She wondered if he had had other muses. She wondered if he had taken such a 'fancy' to any of those other women before, for he had been living for a thousand years, a man couldn't simply not sleep with anyone for that long. Especially a vampire. Like she had confessed to Tyler long ago, some times she was so ready, a mere word could get her hot. And under Klaus' gaze, she felt like she would explode. His gaze had somehow turned from creeping her out to making her imagine that her clothes were about to spontaneously combust and leave her naked.

She wondered if he had drawn anyone nude. She'd seen Titanic, it happened.

She wondered if he would draw her nude.

"Your eyes weren't such a dark shade before. And you didn't have that color in your cheeks. Is everything alright, kitten?"

Caroline couldn't detect any hint of sarcasm in his concerned voice, but then again, Klaus hid things very well. He could easily summarize where her thoughts may have wandered to, he seemed to do it on a daily basis with her.

"I'm fine." She said, guilt laced into her voice.

He gave her a look before blinking and continuing on with the last few touches before running a thumb along a line to smudge it slightly. Caroline watched his calloused finger with interest, wondering for a fleeting moment what it would feel like against her skin again before catching herself and thinking about other things like plants and what her eighth grade science teacher taught her.

Klaus smiled softly, proudly, at the page, before looking up at her again.

"You can move now." He dismissed.

"Gee, thank you." Caroline said, her voice dripping in sarcasm.

"You're very welcome." Klaus answered immediately, not even bothering to look up as he echoed her sarcastic tone. He admired his work before closing the book.

"Don't I get to see?"

"Oh, so you're interested in my work, are you?"

She pouted. "Well, when I'm the subject, I think I have a right to see it."

"Charming, love, but no."

Caroline looked at him with a frown, wondering what he wanted. Then she sighed.

"Please?"

"Please what?"

"…May I please see the drawing?"

Klaus was smug. "Of course." He couldn't resist a chance to gloat. And he had never had any manners, no pleases and thank you's. It was very refreshing.

Caroline studied the sketch. It was both embarrassing and flattering, she realized, for she didn't believe she looked this lovely, and it was astounding that anyone paid her that much attention. He had depicted her in the most realistic form, complete from the way she cradled the book in her lap with curled fingers to the wistful look in her eyes as she gazed out the window, meditating on the words of the great F. Scott Fitzgerald while the train zoomed through a pine tree forest. Her lip was caught between her teeth in such a seductive way, and one blonde curl was wrapped around a finger.

She looked like a woman. He made her a woman.

"Wow," Caroline murmured softly, and Klaus seemed to let out a nervous breath.

"Do you like it?"

"Yes." She said without thought, before distracting herself by looking at other sketches. He had drawn a few landscapes – a lake, a glen, a city – and a few sketches of hands and eyes – some of which she recognised as her own.

"Have you ever drawn?" He asked curiously, trying to ignore the anxious feeling swirling in his stomach as he waited for her judgment. Art was like baring your soul to someone sometimes, and he was apprehensive to see what Caroline, the bright angel who thought of him as a monster, would think of his works.

She chuckled. "Do smiley faces count?"

He quirked a brow at her, confused, and she looked up with a laugh on her lips. "As if you don't know smiley faces, you, the all knowing hybrid." She plucked the pencil from his fingers and accepted the jolt of electric feeling that ran through both of them at that slight brush of hand. Caroline drew a simple smiley face for Klaus to see, and he looked on it with just a hint of disdain.

"Is this considered art?"

"It is for teenagers who want to express their emotions." She said, and he chuckled. She found herself pleased that she had made him laugh at something funny she had said rather than at something she had thrown at him like a word grenade.

"But aside from those cartoons?" He asked, getting back on topic.

Caroline shook her head. "Nothing, I'm afraid."

"Let me teach you." It was a request, not a command or a question. It made it easier for her to accept.

They spent the rest of the afternoon in that relaxed manner, forgetting that they were the Big Bad Hybrid and Baby Vampire Barbie.

When it came time for dinner, however, Klaus had to reset their reality.

"Do you want a drink with dinner, love? You're looking a little peaky."

Caroline knew he meant from a human. "No. Really, I'm fine."

"You can't not drink." Klaus said reprimandingly. "Don't deny your nature."

"Sorry, last time I checked, it wasn't in my nature to be a monster." She shot back.

"Well you'll have to feed sometime, sweetheart."

"And as soon as I find a blood bank, I will."

Klaus sighed. "I really cant tempt you? Not in any way?"

She frowned up at him. "Not in that way. I refuse to feed from a human that way. They're not personal blood bags. They're human beings. I should know, I wa-" Caroline snapped her mouth shut, not wanting to delve into personal Salvatore experiences.

Klaus clenched his jaw. She should have known he would have known. He knew everything about her personal history. She blamed all that time in Alaric and Tyler's bodies, he must have tapped into memories, talked to people, read personal things.

Luckily, Klaus was an actual gentleman and ignored the issue.

"Very well then." He opened up his bag in the overhead compartment and opened the cooler bag inside that, tossing two blood bags to her. "Good thing I stocked up. Now, I'll be off. I need to feed before dinner."

"What?! No way!" Caroline fumed.

Klaus' blank face was back. "I have to eat, I have to live. And just because you've chosen the humanitarian choice doesn't mean we all have to."

"But its not right. And you shouldn't be killing people onboard a train we cant get off." She tried to point out in a way that would make him understand.

He shrugged. "Perhaps not kill, since it troubles you so, love." He ran a finger along her temple hair line, and she slapped his hand away without much thought. She waited for his fiery, frightening response, but he merely retreated more into his cold self as he drew back and headed for the door.

"Besides, old habits die hard." He quipped, before shutting the door behind him.

Caroline wanted to throw something at him. Or maybe throw him from the train. They were having such a nice, normal time, and he had to go and ruin it.

Her anger died down when she noticed the blood he had stocked up with.

B +

When he returned, she had an idea in mind.

"Where are we going after Vienna?"

Klaus smiled. "Only I know. And I'd prefer to keep it that way."

"Why?" Caroline asked indignantly.

His grin widened. "Because I love seeing your surprised reactions."

"I'm going to be surprised regardless of whether I know where we'll be beforehand." She scoffed. "Simple hick girl from a one-pony town, remember?"

He wrinkled his nose, the action reminding her adorably of a puppy. That is, before she realized that she had just deemed the Original Evil Hybrid as 'adorable' and 'puppy' in her mind.

"You don't need to know."

"It'd be nice to have some control." Caroline burst out.

He looked dubious. "I'm not going to let you lead me wherever. How will I know I'm not walking into a trap?"

"How do I know I'm not walking into a trap?!" She retorted.

"Because you know I've always wanted you safe." She raised her eyebrows, and he amended himself cheekily. "Well, almost always. But certainly I've done nothing to hurt you ever." He eyed her meaningfully, and she swallowed back her guilt.

Caroline sighed, pursing her lips in thought, distracting Klaus momentarily. "How about a deal, then. I get to know where we're going, and have a say in what we're doing, ahead of time. That means sharing the control." She said this in a way that let him know that she knew he wouldn't like not being in full control, but she valued it just as much as he did, and was prepared to be very stubbornly cross if she was not given equal power.

Klaus considered the idea for a moment before eyeing her sharply. "Deals go two ways, love. I'll agree, depending on what you're bargaining with."

"A kiss." She said with determination. She'd sneakily come to the conclusion that she wouldn't mind a kiss from him, and it was a good bargaining chip, so she was benefitting the most from the deal.

"A kiss?" He repeated with sarcasm. "Miss Forbes, you truly are not a lady, to be offering such things."

Caroline rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, waiting for his decision.

"That is a lot of control all for one little kiss. I think you misjudge the level of my affection, little one."

"Well then, wolfie, if the level of your affection is so low, then clearly I should just up and leave now. Why else should I give you a chance?" She couldn't imagine that he didn't want her that badly, after all the vague creepiness and hounding. He had to still like her, right? Right?

Klaus exhaled through his nose, showing her how she was testing his patience with her teasing. She exhaled in response, showing him how he started it.

"Alright. Alright," He dipped his head so he was peeking up at her through his long lashes. Caroline's stomach did an ungraceful flip.

"It's a deal, love. Some control for a kiss. Whereabouts will this kiss be?"

Her forehead puckered. "You mean, like what country, or…"

He smirked at her sudden innocence in the misunderstanding. "Where on you."

"Oh." She said, her throat suddenly constricting so she couldn't take in the oxygen her brain suddenly needed to process the information. Had the room always been this hot? She must be coming down with something.

"Anywhere." Caroline replied in an effort to be nonchalant. "Anywhere within reason." She amended hotly after seeing his smirk widen.

He nodded slowly, his eyes burning her as he continued to look at her through heavy eyes. "Now?" He murmured, drawing nearer to her.

Caroline merely nodded, her eyes fixed on his red as raspberry parted lips. She gulped, feeling like she was making a deal with the devil and enjoying it. He stepped closer to her, and she instinctively stepped backwards with his advances till she hit the wall. She stumbled slightly, one of her hands flying up to grip the wall behind her head for support. Klaus' hand came up to steady her, and ended up covering her own, pinned against the wall. He towered over her in the most welcoming way, his fingers lightly stroking over her own. The moment before a kiss was everything, and he was so close now that his breath feathered across her skin and tickled through her hair like the lightest caress. She felt as if she were about to fall into him, and she welcomed it…

Klaus lifted their entwined hands and pressed a reverent kiss to her knuckles, the mere action jolting down her arm like a bolt from the blue. She waited for his lips to press against hers in the manner that surely should follow the action, but he lowered her hand and stepped away and out of her personal space.

"Thank you, Caroline."

She blinked. "That's it?"

He chuckled, the sound coming out like an intimate jest between lovers in bed. "Hungry, love?"

"What?" She squeaked.

"For dinner. They're serving it in the dining cart now, I thought you'd be famished." His eyes danced as he watched her try to calm her agitated, flustered state.

"Um. Yes. Dinner."

"You deserve this." Alaric sneered, carefully dragging the shard of glass up her arm. "How could you end an innocent life? How could you kill and enjoy it?" His eyes were bright with a vicious intent, and Caroline felt exhausted. She had been fighting him for hours, she couldn't be brave anymore.

"I can't help what I am, and what I've done. I'm trying. I am."

Alaric tilted his head. "Now, why should I believe you? After all, that's what Klaus has been telling you, isn't it?"

She swiftly inhaled, forgetting the raw feeling in her throat from the vervain as he dealt the lowest blow. Alaric grinned, knowing he had struck a nerve.

"And yet you don't believe him. So why should I believe you? Why shouldn't I just punish you too?" He stabbed the shard into her shoulder, reveling in her screams. He clasped another in his hand, ramming it into her stomach. Finally, finally, he drove a stake into her heart, twisting it as he went.

Caroline jerked awake.

The night was still around her, save for the soothing rock of the carriage car. Moonlight still managed to illuminate the room, though it was dimmed slightly by the shades.  
Caroline breathed out a shaky breath. It had all felt real, just like they all did. And she had felt so alone with her torturer. She realized that the dream had ended with her painful death, unlike every other time. It probably had something to do with the fact that she hadn't been comforted and pulled from the dream into the reassuring embrace of her Big Bad, like every other time. She'd finally succeeded in pushing him away.

Caroline covered her chest, recalling the phantom pain from the stake, and Alaric's eyes with their maniacal gleam.

Without much debate, Caroline slid out of her bed and padded across to the door separating her room from Klaus'. She opened the door to find him asleep…or at least appearing to be asleep. Her eyes roamed across his peaceful features, noting how open, how sweet, how normal he looked.

Shivering, she remembered why she had come here. She softly walked over, pulled back the covers gently, and curled in beside him. She knew he was awake – how else had she managed to get this close without him jumping to self preservation and ripping her throat out? – and he kept his eyes closed, carefully drawing his arm around her closely, comfortingly. She ever so slightly pressed her face into his shoulder and the material of his soft grey Henley shirt, inhaling that scent of earth and spice and wilderness that was just so Klaus, and a wave of comfort swept over her.

Caroline felt safe. She knew she was safe. She was always safe when she was close to him, because he was the biggest monster of them all. And that should have scared her, but it didn't. And she didn't care anymore. She was safe.

Klaus woke up in the morning alone, and for a split second he wondered if last night had simply been a dream. He had heard Caroline's elevated heartbeat and gasps from her nightmare, and had forced himself to stay put. She didn't want him there. She had made that clear. He was tired of rejection, truth be told. So he stayed put, but wide awake, waiting for her breathing to calm and for her to fall back into slumber.

Instead, he heard silence as Caroline woke, then soft foosteps to the door, then the door opening, then her joining him in bed.

Surely It had been a dream, but no; he could remember her warm body huddled delightfully next to his, and that aroma of warm sunlight and lilies that was unique to her. And as he inhaled, he could tell that yes, it still lingered on his pillowcase, so she had to have been there.

But how had she left without his realization? Had she truly made his relax that much? She was going to be the death of him with that.

Klaus listened intently and growled when he couldn't hear her in the next room. He bolted upright.

She had left him.

Not even five days in, and she had left him.

How foolish.

How foolish, when he could kill her and her friends so easily. He could set the ball rolling within the hour, and by the end of the day, the ragtag band would cease to exist.

His harsh mind immediately began plotting revenge and demise and destruction and rage. Klaus was dressed and ready for torture, stormind down to the private sitting cabin to collect his bag and drawings from the previous day before he would begin to track Caroline down.

He opened the door and his jaw slackened.

Caroline was curled up by the window with the same book, her hair illuminated by the early morning light that flooded in the window. She looked up with a smile.

"Good morning." She called brightly. Her demeanor changed immediately once she saw his stiff posture. "What?" She frowned.

"And a good morning to you too, little one." He drawled, not wanting her to know the ridiculous idea his mind had formed, the conclusions he had jumped to. For that would imply proper caring, rather than wanting and conquering. Pathetic.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him, but returned to her book unphased.

Klaus opened his mouth to say something about her actions in the night and thought the better of it. Best to ignore it, since that was clearly what she wanted. And he could always use it against her later if needed.


	8. Oh Vienna - Part 1

They arrived in the afternoon, disembarking in the noise and crowd of the Vienna West train station. Klaus insisted upon carrying Caroline's bag of bare essentials, since despite the time in St Petersburg, she had barely bought any other clothing.

"You know I'm going to need to wander around in more than two sets of clothing." She stated. "Unless you're planning on me wandering around naked."

It had been a very purposeful word-drop, yet Klaus couldn't help but let his mind be carried away by it.

"The thought hadn't occurred to me, but if you're insisting on being naked…"

"That means everyone seeing me naked, Klaus. Everyone." Caroline smirked at his darkening expression. It didn't last for long, since he noted her expression mirroring his own occasional smug look, and realized she had been picking up his habits. He was about to comment on it when she frowned, staring ahead into the crowd.

"Is that Rebekah?"

Klaus' blood ran cold, then hot. No. No, no, no, it couldn't be. But yes, there she was, Rebekah, craning her head to look through the crowd, leaning on someone next to her to stay on tip-toe. Kol. He would be damned if his baby siblings would ruin everything just as Caroline was finally submitting ever so slowly.

But he was damned already, in both soul and this scenario, for Kol had seen them, and was grinning like a Cheshire Cat, pointing the pair out to his baby sister who waved, making their way over.

"Looks like you wont be wandering around naked after all, love." Klaus muttered under his breath, almost a grumble.

Caroline would have been secretly pleased that she had such a reaction over him, but she was too busy being shocked.

"Are they meant to be here?"

"Really? Do you think I would try to woo you in what I thought would be private while my siblings egged me on, little one?"

"Oh, wow, the sarcasm's really winning me over. So hot."

He smirked. "I know."

"Hello, lovebirds." Kol greeted them before Caroline could do more than roll her eyes at Klaus.

"We were wondering when you two would arrive." Rebekah said, directing her words to her brother with barely a glance at Caroline.

"And I was wondering what on Earth my darling sister and brother could possibly be doing in the same country as me." Klaus' voice was dangerously soft, and Caroline realized how much he had been holding back this side of his personality with her. She hoped it was more for the reason that she didn't bring out this particular side of him rather than him repressing it around her.

Kol and Rebekah didn't seem phased regardless, presumably because they had been on the receiving end of his spats countless times before.

"Well when you left so abruptly in Tyler's form after telling us of your plans, we thought we'd come to visit you. Just to check you were actually in your own body."

"And we missed you." Kol added with saccharine sarcasm.

"Well I certainly haven't missed you."

"Hey, now." Caroline interrupted Klaus, noticing how Rebekah held herself, trying to look impassive as her big brother's words hit her. "I'm sure there's absolutely nothing wrong with all hanging out here together." She looked at each of the three Originals. "We can spend some time in Vienna as a group, and then move on separately." Caroline looked pointedly at Klaus. "Right?"

He knew better than to contradict her when she gave him that singeing look.

"Of course."

"Oh wow, Bekah. Look at our brother. What is the new term for it? Whipped?" Kol grinned as Klaus let a snarl fly at him and Caroline bristled.

"That would imply your brother getting any. Which he isn't." Caroline retorted promptly.

"Yet." Klaus murmured.

The two youngest Mikaelson's watched the baby vampire and the hybrid with interest, seeing them both glare hotly at each other and succeed in firing up the other.

"Perhaps we shouldn't have joined them, Kol. I don't think I could stand all this all day long." Rebekah said quietly, holding back a giggle as Caroline turned to glare at her. Her laughter died away as Caroline grabbed the other blonde's arm and began marching towards the exit.

"Are you going to take her outside? Girl fight? That would be interesting, I haven't seen a good one of those in years." Kol called after them.

"Don't be an idiot. I'm just tired of you two boys." Caroline huffed over her shoulder, before turning to Rebekah. "Please save me."

In a rare moment of understanding, Rebekah almost smiled. "Are you kidding? I've been stuck with Kol the whole time. Lets go."

They practically sprinted for the exit, leaving the brothers to gaze at their retreating backs in confusion for a second before running after them.

Klaus was the first to reach them, catching Caroline around her waist. "I don't take kindly to you running off, particularly with my baby sister." He murmured into her curls, ignoring Rebekah's look of distaste at the affectionate gesture.

Caroline yanked herself away from Klaus' hold, and closer to the other blonde girl. "We have a special bond. Hating each other, of course, but not liking you boys any better."

Rebekah watched in wonder while Caroline stood up to Klaus as if she were ignoring the very real possibility of him snapping her spine in half at any moment, on a whim. She marveled at Caroline's naïve gumption. When Caroline looked over to Rebekah for confirmation on her words, the bright blonde Original realized that she might have finally found an ally in this band of horrible brothers. So she nodded in agreeance.

Kol had caught up by then, and he pouted. "So no girl fight."

"Not unless it's beating you to the ground, Kol." Rebekah retorted.

Klaus looked back and forth between Caroline - who was biting back giggles at Rebekah's words - Rebekah - who was almost smiling for a change - and Kol - who looked like if Caroline had a good come back to fling at him as well - he may just burst out laughing.

His family were…almost laughing.

Almost happy.

This was ridiculous.

"Fine. Lets go." He grumbled, leading the way to the car rank.

"I do hope you booked at the Hotel Imperial. We only just got here ourselves, and from what I recall of Vienna, I remember that the Grand Hotel Wien just isn't my taste." Kol commented cheerfully as they slipped into the town car that was awaiting them.

"You're lucky, brother, that we share that taste. Otherwise I would just be tempted to rip your head off for ruining this trip entirely."

Caroline shot Klaus a look as they settled into the front facing seats, but he refused to take back his words. Kol, who sat across from them, didn't even bother to acknowledge them anyway.

"I had booked the Imperial suite, but with you lot tagging along I suppose I'll have to arrange an upgrade."

"No killing." Caroline snapped, and the three Originals looked at her like she had just suggested they join a circus. "I mean it."

"Oh, I forgot that about you. You're the little vegetarian." Rebekah sneered. "Never mind, I'm sure we can change that."

"No." Klaus shot at his sister. He was not having Caroline's light corrupted. Or if it must be, he would do it personally.

Rebekah frowned at Klaus, and he sighed. "We can have our fun on our own, dear sister. But Caroline is right. No killing."

"At least not for now." Kol added in a low undertone.

"So where is Elijah?" Klaus asked before Caroline could draw breath to respond to Kol's ominous words.

"Mystic Falls. He's staying there at the moment. Didn't want to come with us, and figured that the Salvatores and co. could use an Original there to support them." Rebekah's face darkened.

"Why?" Klaus and Caroline asked in unison, and he smirked at her for their little moment while she made a immature face at him, before they both returned to the serious matter at hand.

"You don't know?" Rebekah asked incredulously, shooting a look at Caroline. "You didn't tell him?"

"I don't even fully know everything." She responded, wincing as Klaus' icy gaze spun to her.

"What didn't you tell me?" He asked, his voice dangerously quiet.

"I thought you'd be angry. I thought…that you'd want to go back." Caroline admitted in an undertone, confessing part of her darkest and most secret fear to him. That she would be second best, always. That Elena would be everyone's first choice for all of eternity. That she would be alone. That he would leave her.

Klaus' face softened slightly, but the tone didn't fully leave his voice. "What didn't you tell me?" He repeated.

"That Elena is a vampire." Rebekah interjected, bringing silence to the car.

Utter silence.

Klaus inhaled, and everyone stiffened. Then he sat back, slowly exhaling.

"Well, the Salvatores are going to have a problem."

Caroline's eyes widened, mouth slack. "That's it?"

Klaus turned to face her straight on. "Caroline, when we left, I left the doppelganger behind, blood and hybrids and all. There were more important matters at hand."

"So you're totally fine with not fulfilling your dream of having a crazy-ass hybrid army of slaves?"

His jaw tensed at her words, but he was otherwise unfazed. "It is a pity, but my curse is broken, I'm invincible, and despite my aversion to my siblings following me across the globe uninvited – " He shot a look to Kol and Rebekah who both immediately glanced away out the windows of the car as it moved through the fairytale streets. " – you are here and ravishing as always, and I am not alone."

"Gag." Kol murmured so softly that almost no one heard his derision.

Caroline understood Klaus though. Because he understood her. He didn't want to be second best either, he didn't want to be alone and left. He was crazy, but in ways, she was just as unbalanced sometimes.

"Hate to break the romantic gooey-eyed moment you two are having, but that wasn't the only trouble." Rebekah drawled, and they turned to face her again. "There's a new vampire hunter in town."

"What, a replaceable Safari Sam 2.0? Hardly trouble." Klaus scoffed.

Rebekah shook her head. "No, this man is something more. He's a bloody marine, Nik. He is lethal. So we decided it would be better to scatter, and it would be easy enough to join you."

"What about everyone else? And what happens if he followed you?" Caroline's mind went into overdrive, wondering what defence she or her friends could have against a marine with vampire hunting capabilities.

The three Originals seemed to have a small scoff together, which made her scowl. Stupid sibling stuff, the elder vampires plus one powerful hybrid thought they were so freaking high and mighty sometimes.

"Everyone will be fine. Elijah's probably already killed this man. And even if he hasn't, Mystic Falls is a magnet for trouble. If they leave, they'll be fine. How else would all of that drama happen in the one area? It's a literal hotspot for danger." Klaus explained calmly.

Caroline wasn't convinced.

Apparently neither was Rebekah.

"I'll agree with everything but Elijah killing the man. We already tried that before we left, and he actually fought back."

Klaus tilted his head. "Interesting."

"Not really." Kol exhaled. "More frustrating than anything, really. We only just return home to Mystic Falls and then we're driven out again. Why is there always some maniac trying to kill us?" His gaze fell on Klaus. "Three out of five times its been a member of the family. You, mother, father…technically four I suppose if you count Alaric being mothers puppet."

"Are you suggesting we look for this marine in our family tree?" Klaus commented, playing along with his brothers remark.

"Well, it does seem to be the trend."

The car stopped outside a large building, and they stepped out. Caroline immediately forgot about their worrisome conversation as she looked up at the impressive columns of the building. It looked like a cross between The White House and a palace. She craned her neck back to see more, unintentionally bumping into Klaus, who stood behind her. His hands went to her waist to steady her, and she found herself in the most unlikely position with her head resting back on his shoulder, his hot breath tickling her ear and neck, his lovely lean body pressed against her back…

"Like it?" He murmured.

She nodded, not trusting her body to not give away anything else.

"Just wait till you see it at night. The lighting is fantastic, a real artform."

"Do you mind not spooning in broad daylight? I'd like to get to the room. I'm feeling a serious need to drink." Kol teased, bumping past them to the door.

Klaus sighed into Caroline's hair before following his younger brother, most likely to tear out some vital organ. Caroline was left standing awkwardly with Rebekah outside.

"Don't worry, he's just jealous. Its been some decades since my brother was out of his box, and he seems to have forgotten the manners and graces of the last century he walked around in." Rebekah rolled her eyes at Kol's behaviour, strutting towards the gilded doors, not looking back to see if Caroline was even following. If Caroline had wanted to run, now would be an opportune moment. But she was curious, and curiosity on many parts made her follow the blonde Original girl.

"So your family were seriously in coffins for centuries?"

"Mmm," Rebekah said, her tone nonchalant. "It was a little like a long sleep. Not too bad, just very confronting when you woke up and entire countries had changed, hemlines had soared, and morals had plummeted. Klaus did it to protect us, though, and keep us together. It was for the best."

"So basically if you disobeyed him, or betrayed him, he'd stick a dagger through your chest?" Caroline asked.

"Pretty much."

Caroline was blank. "Wow. Wonder…" She didn't finish the thought, the pondering idea of what would happen to her if Klaus deemed her disobedient or even a traitor.

Rebekah seemed to read her mind. "Oh, he wouldn't chain you up in a coffin, Caroline. At best he'd just rip your heart from your chest. At worst, he'd probably let you run for a few years, chase you, terrorize you, make you mad with fear, and then finally kill you." She seemed to want to reassure her, but also warn her at the same time. Rebekah turned in the foyer to face Caroline, a dangerous glint in her eyes that must have simply been something they had all inherited from their mother.

"If you hurt my brother, he would make your life hell enough I suppose. But if you hurt him, you'll have to answer to all the Original clan. You're cute, Caroline. I can tolerate you. I can give you a chance. I gave Sage a chance, and she was actually properly dedicated to my brother Finn. But my family loves Nik, deep down, and we're not about to let some harlot like you destroy him." Her mood brightened like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. "On the other hand, you make him bearable, so I suppose I should be nice for now at least. I'm certainly grateful. Thank you, poppet. Hope you understand."

She spun on her heel and went to join the brothers who were shooting daggers at each other by the reception desk. Caroline was left in a stunned daze. What in the actual hell was that?

The baby vampire shook her head slightly and rejoined the crazy Original group just as they turned for the grand staircase. Everywhere was like walking in a very fancy 20th century style palace.

They opened the double doors to what was presumably their room, and Caroline gasped. It was like living in a very expensive, very flourished-looking house. They were staying in the Royal Suite, which Klaus explained to her had belonged to the palace (for indeed, the hotel had once been a palace) owner, Phillip of Wurttemberg, and which had housed royals and rockstars, politicians and painters.

"Yeah, but who would need all this space for a stay in Vienna?" Caroline asked, weaving in between the elaborately styled furniture and running a hand over the rich fabric of the curtains.

"We do." Kol said decidedly, lying back on a divan with an exaggerated sigh. "I'll need as much space as possible from any 'moments' between you and my brother."

"Then by all means, Kol, go away." Caroline said sweetly before Klaus had the chance to even growl. It was then that he decided that there were very few things sexier than having Caroline on his side for a change, using her sharp tongue against someone else. That is, unless it was in a physical sense. That honor should be claimed by him alone.

"So you are actually having moments. How sweet." Kol said, leering at Caroline. "Bekah, pay up. I know we did all think our brother would just be lolloping around after her like a puppy, but I was the one to bet on the family charm."

If it were possible for someone to die by the force of a glare alone, Kol would have withered away under Caroline's gaze. As it was, he merely smirked, and she turned away to lean against the window and focus on the view of the city, just so she could calm the hell down.

She heard Rebekah leave the room to receive her luggage from the bell boy, commenting about how she would take the best room if they didn't all stop sulking. Kol must have been at the bar, since there was the sound of glass and liquid.

She felt Klaus' presence behind her before he even spoke.

"I have two daggers and a vial of white oak ash in my bag. Just say the word." He murmured soothingly, resting his chin on the top of her head in a familiar way, his hand resting lightly on her hip. Aside from those two points of contact that heated up instantly under his touch, their bodies were an inch apart. It was maddening. So she leaned against him ever so slightly, not wanting to show too much acceptance, but finally feeling that it was suitable enough for her to let moments like this fly by.

"Tempting, but maybe no. Or at least not now." Caroline felt his stubble and his smile on the crown of her head, and she let a smile flicker across her face for a moment before suppressing it.

"Why Vienna?" She asked, and he knew it would simply become a routine question for each country from here on in.

"It's a city with a rich past that is still seen everywhere in the city today, a treasure trove. A great city of art and music. And there are a few sights to see here that I'm sure you'll have an interest in."

"More surprises?" She said dubiously, raising an eyebrow.

"Good surprises, yes."

"You've got serious issues with sharing control, don't you."

"Just a tad."

"Well that'll change with our agreement." She said stoutly, and felt his sigh run through her curls.

"You really think I'll let you arrange anywhere we go?"

"Yes." Caroline said. She knew he was just trying to test her.

"Fine." Klaus muttered with more than a hint of irritation.

"It'll be good for you." She said complacently.

"Yes, Nik, it'll be good for you. If you'd like, we'll get you a leash too, so Caroline can take you on walks like the puppy you are." Despite the scotch he had in his hand, Kol was still bored.

Klaus turned and advanced."Kol, I should remind you that this room is three hundred years old, and I don't feel like destroying anything at this point in time, so perhaps keep your mouth shut before I throw you through a wall."

"Oh, its all right, Nik. They patched up the wall fairly well last time."

"That was when it was only sixty years old."

"Well I can recall a particularly raunchy night with some blonde vampire where we must have knocked through a wall as well, and that was about 2 decades before you stuck a dagger in my heart, so far more recently." Kol smiled toothily. "I hope you and Caroline don't make such a ruckus. But then again, you two clearly haven't got up to much, since Caroline's not run off screaming yet. Would you kindly remove the glass shard from my shoulder Niklaus."

"Mmm, don't really feel like doing that now, baby brother. To be truthful, I feel like doing this."

"Oh, come on, I don't think that comment was enough to stick the bottle through my stomach."

"On the contrary – "

Caroline had ignored them up till that point, since she was an only child and didn't fully understand sibling dynamics, particularly the violent ways of the Original family. But even she had a limit, and she spun around.

"Is this meant to be impressive?"

Klaus looked up almost lazily from where he had Kol in a grip lock as simply as if he were reading a newspaper.

"Oddly enough, it might not be for your benefit, love."

"Oh, come on, Nik, listen to your lover. Or is it unrequited lover, or simply arm candy?" Despite his position, Kol still looked and sounded as cocky as ever.

Caroline clenched her jaw shut. "I take it back, go for it, he's a terror."

"Thank you."

"Come on, we're going shopping." Rebekah stated firmly, pulling her past the vicious antics.

"Really?"

Rebekah noted Caroline's enthusiasm with glee. "I know how deprived you've been of the finer things, especially if you've been travelling with my brother. His taste is nothing compared to mine."

"That's nothing. I've been travelling with literally this and another shirt." Caroline said in exasperation, gesturing to her jeans and t-shirt.

Rebekah's lip curled. "No. We'll have to replace that and find more for your travels. Bye Nik, bye Kol." She called through the door before shutting it and tugging Caroline down the stairs towards the outside world and the freedom of the elegant Viennese shops.


	9. Oh Vienna - Part 2

The two blonde girls didn't talk much for a while, browsing through the same shops separately before moving on to the next in silence. It was somewhere between two designer brands that the pretense fell away. Without the history of Mystic Falls constantly pressing on them, and the absence of the whole 'good vampires vs bad vampires', the girls found they had a lot in common.

Didn't mean they didn't hate each other still.

"No, Caroline. Just no."

"What?" Caroline stopped mid twirl, the patterned dress settling around her legs.

"You look like you climbed into a tribal hessian bag." Rebekah tutted, shoving a silken green dress into her hands. "Try this on."

"What's wrong with this one?"

"I just told you. Now put the dress on before I get bored and start feeding."

Caroline took the dress and stomped off to change, but not before shooting her a death glare that set Rebekah into a bout of uncharacteristic laughter.

"You picked that up from Nik, didn't you. That little pout and the death eyes."

"Shut up."

There was a pause as Rebekah considered talking about her new friend's relationship with her brother, but then she shrugged it off as too weird.

Caroline walked out to show the green dress, wriggling slightly to adjust it in the mirror.

"Well?"

"I told you so." Rebekah said. "Green's a good colour for blondes."

"Is that what you used to entice Damon." Rebekah glanced up sharply from where she had been examining her nails, and Caroline bit her lip. "The green dress reminded me of the ball."

The thousand year old vampire held the baby vampire's gaze in the mirror for a moment before returning to her nails. "Mmm. Well. Damon Salvatore is an ass."

"He used to be worse. But I understand." Caroline said, making Rebekah meet her eyes again. "I've been there too."

They were quiet again, and Caroline decided to lighten the mood. "Did he do that thing where he…basically doesn't waste time on you?"

"Straight to full on sex and no foreplay? Yeah."

Caroline laughed a little at Rebekah's bluntness, and the blonde Original joined in.

"He can be so selfish sometimes."

"Nothing like Stefan." Rebekah mused, and Caroline groaned, placing her hands over her ears.

"I do not want to hear about this."

"He's a real treat, Caroline."

"He is practically like my brother now."

"Well, now you know how it feels."

"Not really. Not for that reason!" Caroline said quickly as Rebekah pulled a disgusted face. "Its just…I'm an only child. An only child whose parents separated and whose mother showed more love for her work than she did for her daughter. I adopted my friends as my family, and they did the same for me. But I don't have the same kind of bond with them that you do with your brothers."

"Its not exactly a family picnic." Rebekah pointed out, and Caroline rolled her eyes.

"No shit, Sherlock. Your family is absolutely insane. No offense."

"None taken."

"But I still envy that in some ways. You guys are all so close, you bicker and annoy each other – "

"And Nik stabbed us all with daggers so we wouldn't leave, and he and Kol fight like that more often than you think."

" – but even through all that, you want to protect each other, always. Its really wonderful."

Rebekah pursed her lips, clearly deep in thought. Caroline realized she had made their talk far too deep and meaningful once again, and she spun once more to check the back of the dress.

"I'm going to put this in the maybe pile. And I want to see you try some of the stuff I picked out too. Don't think you're escaping that." She said firmly before closing the door again.

Rebekah scoffed. "Please, my taste is far better than yours."

"I'm going to prove you wrong." Caroline sing-songed, and Rebekah allowed a true smile to grace her face since her shopping companion couldn't see.

Rebekah dragged Caroline along to a lingerie shop, her mood lifting with every passing minute. Caroline could see just how loving and caring and innocent she must have been a thousand years back before the bloodlust and curse of being a vampire had set in her soul. And she was fun to be around, despite the bitching. If Caroline could help her get back to the human girl she used to be, she would be happy.

That didn't mean that she was comfortable going bra shopping.

"Really, Bekah?"

"You'll need more underwear than you have, Caro-poppet, my brother has a tendancy to rip clothes off."

"Okay, one: so not having sex with your brother, and two: you know this how?"

"He's had some conquests over the years, and I've had to help out the poor girls who've been stupid enough to fall into bed with him." Rebekah's eyes widened, and she looked at Caroline reassuringly. "But that won't be you. Really."

Caroline folded her arms, masking the tiny slip of pain that had somehow sharded its way to her heart. "How?"

"Because they were all humans. You're his first vampire, Caro-pop, and that is not something to be taken lightly."

"Gee, thanks, Beks." Caroline rolled her eyes, but pondered over Rebekah's words as they browsed through the store. Caroline was soon blushing; there were no shops exclusively for panties in Mystic Falls, and she had happily stuck to the most risque underwear sets in town that were available in the back of the best clothing outlet. It turned out, the 'risque' garments were toddler tame compared to the new world of frothy lace, corsets, silk, and the garters, my goodness.

"Oh, how fantastic, this is your first time?" Rebekah's grin was positively evil, and Caroline scowled, tossing her head back.

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you."

"Its probably better that I took you here, then. Some of the French shops are even worse." Rebekah looked at Caroline skeptically, and Caroline huffed, taking the simple white lace set she had been admiring and walking off to the change rooms.

After much ribbing, Rebekah prompted Caroline to buy a couple corset and garter sets as well as the colourful array of garments she chose. Caroline waited patiently while Rebekah tried on a few.

"You wouldn't be buying these with a certain someone in mind, would you?" Caroline fished, thinking of the few flings Rebekah had had. She secretly thought that her and Matt were cute. You know, when Rebekah wasn't doing her crazy evil bitch thing and was reverting to her sweet, soft, honest girl self.

"Listen, Caro, I think you're cute, but not that cute."

"Thanks for the confidence, Bekah bitch, but I wasn't talking about me."

Rebekah strolled out in a black camisole set that covered everything but showcased her legs in a way that made Caroline simultaneously self-conscious and envious. Old habits died hard: she was in competition with this girl without even knowing what the prize could possibly be.

"Well, then, who were you talking about?" Rebekah asked as she twitched the hem, fidgeting in the mirror.

"I don't know, maybe...a certain human? Matt, perhaps?"

Rebekah froze, and Caroline searched her face, curious.

"I think you need to stop matchmaking, Caroline. Its not an attractive trait." She snapped, strutting back into the change room and flinging the curtain across, blocking the baby vampire off.

"Matt was in the car with Elena when it crashed anyway. He's fine, he got away mostly uninjured, but I don't think he would leave Elena. Just like all the men of Mystic Falls." Rebekah's voice floated out with a hint of dismay and jealousy, and Caroline exhaled. Matt and Elena were friends, but that didn't stop lingering feelings. But she had hope, remembering how Matt was around her, how he had smiled like he used to with Elena, only it was more mature, realistically joyful. They could work together.

"Have you seen him since?"

"No."

"Then maybe you shouldn't give up hope."

Rebekah remerged in a corset that she simply didn't need due to her waist and bust, and Caroline sighed when she saw the girls unmoved face.

"Or maybe we should just give up on men together. I'm sure there's some sort of convent somewhere in Europe."

Rebekah grimaced. "Eternity is a long time to obstain, Caro." She said in a monotone, but sneaked in a cheeky smile when Caroline giggled.

"Maybe we should go on a sex binge in Paris, then."

"Italian men are much better. And their blood tastes like good wine."

Caroline bit her lip and looked down, and Rebekah sighed. "We need to feed, poppet. It's not right to just feed on bunnies. What happens if you accidentally snack on the Easter Rabbit or whatever it is children go crazy for nowadays?"

Caroline smiled weakly, reminded of Stefan from the way Rebekah spoke. But even so...

"Its not right."

"Why?"

"Damon used me as a blood bag sex toy. Forgive me for feeling a little against the idea of doing it to someone else." Caroline snapped, and Rebekah paused, not knowing how to even comfort her. It had been a while since she had been the confidant in a friendly relationship. She thought it best to try the reality tactic.

"Well that was crass of him. But not everything has to be that way. You can feed, heal, compel, move on."

"It just doesn't seem right."

Rebekah sensed Caroline's stubbornness, and she retreated. "Fine. Have it your way. But you're missing out on some of the finer points of vampirism."

She went back to change, and Caroline bit back every retort that came to mind, because truthfully she had entertained the idea once or twice. Surely it wouldn't hurt for her to feed properly...blood called to her constantly...but no. It would be wrong. It was wrong.

But that didn't mean that she shouldn't accept it in other people. It was a lifestyle choice. And so long as Rebekah wasn't killing anyone, or at least as long as Caroline could persuade her to not drain people, she could deal with it. Potentially.

When Rebekah left the change room and went to pay, Caroline followed her wordlessly, giving her a quick backwards hug at the register. The icy blonde didn't acknowledge it, but she did have a small smile on her face as they walked back to the Hotel Imperial.

Upon arriving back at the hotel, Rebekah suggested that they send the bags up to the suite and have a drink in the bar.

"My brothers are probably still fighting. Or drinking. Either way, its not the nicest thing to return to."

"Agreed, for once." Caroline wrinkled her nose at her words, and Rebekah gave her a look.

"Yeah, lets not do that again in the future. Its too weird, us agreeing."

Caroline shrugged, realizing that she did agree with what Rebekah said but she couldn't exactly agree twice in a row.

The girls strutted over to the bar, Caroline ordering drinks before Rebekah could get there first, and she scowled at the baby vampire.

"Really, Caroline? We're in Vienna, city of great artists such as Mozart and Beethoven, and you order rum and coke?"

"Yes." She replied stubbornly, smiling sweetly at the bartender when he handed them their drinks.

"Fine. But I'm ordering the next round, and you'll just have to drink it and be educated."

Caroline regretted this later after Rebekah had smiled the nefarious Original smirk (and on that note, Caroline mused that Klaus must have been the father of all smirking, seriously) and ordered, in perfect German, something that sounded like 'kirchvasher' to her American ears.

"What is that?" She asked as Rebekah handed her the small shot of clear liquid.

"Kirschwasser. Its cherry schnapps." Rebekah looked at the drink like it was a treasure, and sighed when Caroline made a face at the word 'schnapps'.

"Not your American kind. This is the proper liquid gold. Just take the shot, savor it, and if you like it we'll order another. If you don't…we'll keep ordering them till you do."

A deadly statement. But one they obeyed.

Somewhere around midnight, the girls made it back to the suite.

Kol greeted them first.

"Well, if it isn't our dear sister and guest. Looks like Bekah got to her first, Nik."

Caroline, who was half supporting, half being supported by Rebekah, saw Klaus lean against the doorway to one of the bedrooms, eyes practically glowing fiercely. A small part of her knew she ought to be cautious from here, but the larger, more cherry affected part of her mind was just too fuzzy to notice.

"Caroline and I have had a little girl bonding time. I introduced her to the pleasures of Austrian liquor." Rebekah drawled, leaving Caroline's side to go flop gracefully onto the couch next to her brunette brother.

"Kirschwasser's my new favorite." Caroline said helpfully, though it came out a little slurred.

"It's Rebekah's too. I personally prefer scotch." Kol said, offering the bottle to the baby vampire. "Want a try?"

Caroline took a swig, and Rebekah laughed as she scrunched up her face. "How do you drink that? Its like burnt cork."

"Its an acquired taste, darling, but you'll have to live at least half a century more to fully appreciate it." Kol grinned, taking back the bottle and drinking with exaggerated pleasure.

Caroline rolled her eyes, her attention diverting as always to Klaus again. He didn't join his siblings, preferring to lean against the doorway where he was, all bad-boy-esque. She wandered over to him slowly, just to ensure that she wouldn't fall on her way there.

"Hello, love."

"Why aren't you drinking?" She asked, her brows furrowed like it was a serious question. He chuckled softly, breaking out of his moody expression for a moment.

"I already had enough of that before. You do realize that you and Rebekah have been out for at least 12 hours."

She blinked. "Wow."

"Clearly you must have made an impression on her. Bekah's been known to get bored and just bring back her companions within an hour, snapped spine and all."

"Hey, don't sully her name. Your sister is a nice person." Caroline said, poking his chest purely because it seemed pokeable.

Klaus looked at her, his face continuing to lighten as it transformed into amusement. "I cannot believe I am hearing you defend my own sister."

"Yeah, well, she may be an evil blood s – girl – but that doesn't mean she isn't nice."

He tilted his head, regarding her with his usual cryptic-expression.

Caroline rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh, placing a hand on either shoulder and gently pushing him into the room behind him, the contact only to steady herself, even though a large part of her knew she was just making up excuses. They both ignored Kol's quip ("Our brother is finally getting some, Bek!") and the door swung shut, leaving at least a feeling of peace with the inch of plaster between the pair and the two intruding siblings.

The peace sobered Caroline's spinning head ever so slightly, and she stepped back, wandering around the room in the hopes that distance from his dizzying presence would relieve her.

It didn't.

"So…what did you and Kol get up to today?"

His cold look returned ever so slightly, and Caroline wondered what Kol had said in jest to his brother that would have made him so harsh.

"Not much. He kept going on with some irritating thought or another. I snapped his neck at one point. I would have left, but I wasn't certain you would actually be returning at any point."

Oh. She understood now. And she didn't appreciate it one bit.

"I was out with your sister. Did you seriously think I would run?"

"Yes." His stance was fearsome now, almost frightening in his stillness, but his eyes still burned her in a way that wasn't quite angry with her. She couldn't read it, she couldn't describe it. She just knew that she wanted to close the distance between them and kiss him like she had thought he would back on the train. She needed to know what would happen, whether it would satisfy whatever was building up between them or kill it completely.

"You're such a jerk. You can't keep me with a babysitter for every waking moment in the hopes that I won't run."

"You'll find that I can."

Caroline wished he wasn't so appealing and sexy while working the powerful villain angle. She needed, she deserved a knight in armor, not the wolf. But she couldn't deny the tension, the fact that she wanted to stray off the path and into the arms of a wolf, just like the fairy tale that she had loved almost her whole life until she had found out the hidden messages of lust and seduction and temptation. And yet even now, she was drawn back to it.

Boy, was she tipsy. And despite what the Salvatores had told her, alcohol maybe took the edge off bloodlust, but it didn't take anything away from lust. It magnified it. Or perhaps it was the fact that the liquor had broken down the careful wall of denial that she had built around the attraction she felt for him.

All she really could hold onto in her brain was that he was a bastard with very kissable lips. So she stuck to the first half.

"Bastard."

He was unmoved. "Tell me something I don't know, love."

"Stop calling me that!" She hissed, flashing up to him in her burning anger, or was it simply just burning?

"Stop calling you what, sweetheart?" Klaus asked, amused. He knew exactly what she meant.

"Stop calling me every single pet name in the book in an attempt to get me in your bed."

Klaus noticed how her own eyes dilated at the mention of his bed, not in an attempt to compel, but in a display of something he never thought he would see in her, especially not now.

Caroline noticed nothing except for how his eyes were smoldering like bright blue flame, and how his lips were parted as if he were about to drink her in. There was only an inch of space between them, and it was suffocating her, screwing with her already hazy brain.

"You talk such a big game and you don't deliver."

"Do you want me to deliver, then?" He said, his voice low, almost a growl. She felt it vibrate through the shallow air between them and reverberate in her chest and it made her weak in the best possible way. But his eyes told her that he was testing her, and she hated how it made her feel weak in the worst possible sense.

"Never." She hissed, and they stared heatedly at each other.

Despite her words, Caroline gravitated towards his mouth like a magnet. She was close enough that his intoxicating, wild scent enveloped her, and it made her simultaneously breathless and yearning for more of it in her lungs. He was close enough now that his own short, sharp pants were hitting her mouth. She could taste him ever so slightly on her parted lips, and she was drawn in, wanting more, wanting to taste more, to see if his teasing and tempting was all true.

She had very nearly made her mind up when he murmured to her again, distracting her.

"How much have you had to drink tonight, Caroline?"

It must have been a serious question for him to use her name. She directed her gaze back to his eyes, and for a second she could see everything; how much he wanted this to happen, but how much he wanted it to happen for real. Fear. There was a real fear in his eyes that she didn't want this like he wanted it. For a second, his feelings seemed as true as possible.

It was the tipping point.

Caroline's lips brushed against Klaus'. It was a reassuring kiss, a sweet kiss, but it was never going to stay that way. His breath fanned across her cheeks hotly, stunned. Caroline felt breathless, gasping in a slight breath of air, and Klaus was the one to press his lips against hers again, parting them, drawing her bottom lip in, making her whimper and press against him. She felt like she would explode into a million stars. She had never felt this way in a kiss before, it was electric, magnetic. Wild.

She realized that there had been a third possibility in kissing him; that it would neither satisfy nor kill but feed their hungry passion and make it grow. She felt like it wasn't an end, it was a key that opened up more hungers, more needs, more desires. Her hands were suddenly pressing into him, one arm wrapping around his neck, the other cupping around his jaw, trailing down his neck, feeling his pulse thunder beneath her palm. His arms snared around her waist, fingers tracing lightly over the skin of her lower back where her shirt rode up, and she moaned softly at the electric touch, and he answered her with a quiet, desperate noise hidden within his throat.

And then he ruined it all by pulling away.

"Caroline," He breathed, and she wanted to hear that sound over and over again.

"Klaus," She sighed, eyes heavy.

He gazed at her softly, but an emotion she couldn't understand flooded into his eyes. "You've had too much to drink."

It shattered her mood instantly. "Excuse me?"

Klaus stepped two steps back out of her hold, the cold flooding in where heat had once been, and it felt like a slap.

"You're not in your right mind."

She realized what had brought this change upon him.

"You cant be serious." She scoffed, the laughter dying from her face when he looked at her with his perfectly serious, almost hurt expression.

"Really? My god!" Caroline felt just as rejected as he, and it fed her anger again. "So what, after everything, I cant kiss you because I want to? I kiss you, therefore I must be drunk because you didn't have to compel me or throw expensive jewellery or seductive phrases my way? How damaged do you have to be to think that I couldn't just kiss you because I am attracted to you, Klaus?" Caroline knew it now, she knew herself enough now, but she hadn't ever intended to say it in a fit of fury.

Klaus hid his reaction perfectly. "I think you should just get some sleep, love."

"No, I think I should do something else." She said, walking purposefully towards him, but he closed himself off with crossed arms. She flinched as if it was a physical blow.

"You don't think that maybe I want this too right now? Or are you just so broken that you have to lead me on in this sick game of yours to make me just as screwed up as you are?" She hissed, not caring if her words were too much or going too far, just as long as they struck home. "It hurts me too. Its humiliating. Its painful." Caroline shook her head, storming out the door.

Rebekah and Kol glanced up with identical expressions of sympathy that they didn't mask before she saw them. She scowled at them sourly, before kicking the door closed behind her and storming off to her own room, locking the door behind her even if it was a pointless move in a suite full of Original vampires.

After some inner raging, biting back tears that she absolutely refused to shed over that asshole, and many almost calls to complain to Elena, Caroline settled down to sleep. She knew it would be a terrible idea, but she wanted to at least try oblivion for a moment, even if it lead to yet another painful dream.

Caroline was running through a hedge maze enveloped in a thick fog. She hadn't had this dream for a while, she used to have it as a little girl, but it was so realistic right then and there that it seemed true.

She had to find something.

Suddenly, she saw a glimpse of Elena's straight brown hair disappearing around a corner. She sprinted after her, turning the corner just in time to see Bonnie run down a path to the left. Caroline followed, but found that her friend had vanished as well. Now it was Matt, running to the right and being swallowed up in the grey mist. She ran, trying to follow, but he too was gone.

She stopped at the crossroads she had come to, looking around. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was someone there watching her, just out of her eyesight. She spun, not seeing anyone in the fog that seemed to just grow and thicken into something out of a horror film.

"Caroline," A voice breathed, and she spun again, but only the fog was there, pressing against her, stinging her.

"Caroline," The voice called again, and she whipped around, only to find that the fog was clawing at her, burning her like vervain, being sucked into her lungs with every fearful gasp for air.

"I'm coming for you, Caroline." A voice said darkly into her ear, and she jumped, calling and crying, flailing against the presence that was no longer there but she couldn't escape it. She started to run again, the mist still holding her back so she couldn't move, making her thrash against it.

"Caroline, Caroline, Caroline." The voice had changed, it was soothing now, soothing and English, and what held her was more anchoring to reality, strong arms, a calming chest, one that she pressed into, eagerly drinking in the scent.

"Why did I sleep – I shouldn't have – not without – so stupid – don't know why – " She whimpered.

"Its okay now, you're safe." Klaus crooned, surprised when she looked into his eyes and didn't pull away.

"Why – " She began, and burrowed her face into his neck, not wanting to push away, not wanting to be pushed away, and he understood it without words.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," He whispered into her hair. He never said sorry. He was never sorry. But he felt something akin to it now, and he wanted to express it to her, to the bright angel that he was corrupting, the angel who stayed even when she shouldn't, the angel that he, the devil, comforted in this backwards world they were creating.

He waited till her breath had stopped hiccupping, before moving to place her back on the pillows and leave. She grabbed at his shoulder.

"Don't…" Caroline began, before swallowing and inhaling a slow breath as he looked at her with that unreadable expression. "Stay?"

He paused, and she held her breath.

"Alright." Klaus said softly, lowering himself back down to rest beside her. She hesitantly moved closer to him, and he put his arm reassuringly across her waist, stroking the soft skin of her forearm as she fluttered her eyes closed and fell back into a peaceful slumber finally.

When morning came and Caroline awoke next to Klaus, she didn't run this time. Instead she watched his face, smooth with sleep. She noted with a slight blush how their feet had tangled in the night, how her hand had come to rest against the place his neck and shoulder connected, just on the edge of his shirt. She felt his slow, steady pulse beneath her fingertips, and she couldn't help herself, her fingers travelling feather light up his throat to his jaw to feel the scratch of his stubble.

His eyes flashed open at the touch, and for a wild moment she felt that he would jump to self preservation. But he was more aware than she thought, and he locked eyes with her. Her fingers traced the edge of his jaw, and he closed his eyes, swallowing at the feeling of her hand ghosting softly along.

She leaned in closer, brushing her lips against his jaw where her fingers had lingered.

"Thank you," She whispered. "for staying."

Klaus nodded, for once not certain he would be able to conjure the correct words to respond. He took a chance, brushing her golden hair from her face and tucking it behind her ear, his fingers remaining where they were lightly pressed against the pulse point in the hollow under her ear, which jumped against them like her very blood wanted to break free.

He angled her head ever so slightly and slowly leaned in to kiss her, giving her plenty of time to move back or push him away.

She didn't.

Their lips pressed together like they had been kissing for decades, moving in a dance that was every bit as thrilling as it was familiar. She loved he wasn't moving away this time, she loved that she felt like it was so natural, here, in the early morning light, to be kissing the big bad hybrid, because he suddenly wasn't just Klaus, the monster who had made their lives hell, he was Niklaus, the man who was showing her the world, showing her the puzzles of himself. But most of all, he was feeding the flames of her desire and making her ignite.

Caroline rolled onto him, unable to keep herself away, and he let out a muted groan as her curves pressed into his form. Their kisses turned fierce, teeth scraping, tongues playing. Caroline let out a little snarl as Klaus sucked at her neck.

"Bite me." She said huskily, and he looked up to check she was serious. "Do it."

He allowed her to watch his face transform, and she stared, transfixed, oddly seduced by this darker side of him.

And then his teeth were in her neck, and she was gasping at the feeling, his soft, sweet lips pressed into her neck while his sharp teeth took her.

His hand came up to cradle her head, and then gently directed it to his own neck, wordlessly encouraging her to feed on him as he drank from her. She did ever so gently, but it had the same powerful affect on him, a feeling of marking, claiming.

He was hers.

She was his.

The brought their lips back together, high on the feeling of bloodlust mixing with pure lust.

He flipped them and she chuckled, knowing how dominating he could be. The laughter was swept off her face as he pressed his entire body against hers, and she arched up against him.

"Niklaus…" She breathed unknowingly, leaning up to kiss him again, and he stared at her.

"Say that again, love." He growled, biting with blunt teeth at her now healed neck.

"Nik…" Caroline moaned, her hands wandering across the taunt muscles of his back and chest, legs wrapping around his middle, and it was all moving too fast but nowhere near close to fast enough in her opinion.

He pressed a searing kiss to her lips, and her heart was beating like a bird that wanted to break free from her chest, and –

"Do you two mind? It is six in the morning, why cant you just sleep rather than have sex." Kol's voice thundered through the door, effectively ruining the mood.

Klaus could not believe his bad luck. Neither could Caroline.

"Kol," Klaus began to growl, but Caroline beat him to it.

"Kol, I hope you're ready for breakfast, because I'm about to tear out your intestine and feed it to you." The blonde girl was livid, and Klaus felt another wave of attraction for her feistiness.

"Caroline, I hope you're ready to stop making out with my brother, because I have big plans for us today." Rebekah's voice joined in.

"God, is this a bloody zoo?" Klaus reluctantly left the bed and stormed over to the door, opening it sharply to see Rebekah and Kol, both of whom immediately shrunk back when they saw their brother's face. Clearly it must have been a fearsome thing to behold. Caroline would have been grateful she wasn't on the receiving end, but in all honesty she was just too peeved that the Originals had cleared her thoughts before she had done anything inappropriate, or secretly appropriate, with Klaus.

"The pair of you should be kind to remember that Caroline is here as my guest. That means that I will be showing her the city, and you may join, but by no means will you dictate what happens. Need I remind you that you are also both here under my name? By all means, feel free to leave at any time, before I feel compelled to kick you out entirely."

"Nik." Caroline chastised from the bed, and blushed under the curious look the three of them sent her way. "Klaus." She amended, and directed her gaze towards the other two Originals. "Sorry for the noise. We'll see you two later. Please don't complain anymore than necessary."

Rebekah nodded, sneaking a sly look between Klaus and Caroline as she walked off. Kol had the audacity to waggle his eyebrows and wink before leaving. Klaus shut the door with a huff, turning slowly to face Caroline again.

The mood was dampened, but nowhere near being killed. Caroline wondered for a moment if there would be any moment between them not filled with repressing needs and eye sex and temptation and fire. She honestly wouldn't have minded moments like that for the rest of her eternal life.

But now was not the time to go back to what they had started.

"Breakfast?" She said brightly, hopping out of bed and stretching.

Klaus' eyes wandered appreciatively down her form, and she knew that her mind had changed when she felt fully pleased at the attention rather than uncomfortable.

"Of course. Shall we dine on each other, or did you have something else in mind?"

Caroline rolled her eyes, but her smile was soft.

"How about treating me to Vienna? Just like you planned."

"Well, you've managed to change my goals ever so slightly now, love. My mind is a little hazy on exactly what I had planned that was outside this room right now."

She giggled, and he hesitantly walked over to her. She loved that he was suddenly uncertain around her, now that he had been able to touch her and ensure that she was real, she wasn't about to suddenly flee. She had the feeling that he would be like that forever, but it gave her a sense of being treasured, treated like she was priceless. It was a very heady thought.

Caroline helped him by meeting him halfway, meeting his hesitant hands with her own and meeting his hesitant lips with her quick kiss. Naturally, it turned into more than just a quick kiss, but this time she broke away.

"Breakfast. Or I'll snack on you."

"I truly wouldn't mind that, sweetheart."

"Breakfast. As in, food, coffee, toast, whatever they have here." She said sternly, but the impish smile never left her face, and for once she was close enough to see dimples in his answering smile. She vowed to see them more often, they took centuries of pain and rage off his face and transformed him into someone so…so…

Caroline pressed a kiss to one of those dimples, before pushing him out the door. "Go get changed. We'll go for a walk in five minutes and get breakfast."


	10. Klaus's Vienna

"Is this meant to be impressive?"

Klaus looked up almost lazily from where he had Kol in a grip lock as simply as if he were reading a newspaper.

"Oddly enough, it might not be for your benefit, love."

"Oh, come on, Nik, listen to your lover. Or is it unrequited lover, or simply arm candy?" Despite his position, Kol still looked and sounded as cocky as ever.

Caroline clenched her jaw shut. "I take it back, go for it, he's a terror."

"Thank you."

"Come on, we're going shopping." Rebekah stated firmly, pulling Caroline past the brothers vicious antics.

Klaus watched avidly as Caroline's expression cleared to one of happiness.

"Really?" She said enthusiastically.

Rebekah's face mirrored hers, and Klaus pondered, not for the first time, just how well Caroline and his baby sister would get along were it not for the weight of Mystic Falls drama hanging over everyone's heads. "I know how deprived you've been of the finer things, especially if you've been travelling with my brother. His taste is nothing compared to mine."

"That's nothing. I've been travelling with literally this and another shirt." Caroline said in exasperation, gesturing to her jeans and t-shirt.

Rebekah's lip curled. "No. We'll have to replace that and find more for your travels. Bye Nik, bye Kol." She called as the two blondes whirled out of the suite, closing the door and leaving the brothers in their fight.

Klaus unlocked his arm from around Kol's neck, hoping his baby brother would continue the fight. He needed to take his frustration out on something, and it was very easy to blame his siblings for distracting Caroline away from him.

Kol coughed, before righting himself and shaking out his limbs.

"It's been a while since we've had one of these, brother. You sure you don't want to wait till Caroline get's back, so you can show off again?" He grinned.

Klaus smirked, pacing back and forth like a caged lion. "Come now, I'm only saving you more humiliation. You wouldn't like to be bested in front of your sister and the lovely Miss Forbes, would you?"

Klaus feigned a direct punch to Kol, knowing his brother would duck, and whipped around to slam his elbow into the younger Mikaelson's back. Kol landed on the floor, using Klaus' moment of amusement to kick his legs out from underneath him, sending the hybrid sprawling. He snarled in retaliation, clenching his hand around Kol's throat, lifting him off the ground as Klaus steadied himself on his feet again.

"You haven't improved much since the 19th century."

"And you're still far too cocky in a fight, brother." Kol wheezed.

Klaus threw him back to the floor in a crash, letting Kol pick himself up off the ground while he fetched the whiskey from the bar cabinet. He poured a large glass, leaving the bottle on the table for Kol.

"Ah, it's that time again. The moody Klaus is back." Kol quipped, pouring his own drink and settling on the couch opposite his brother.

Klaus ignored his remark, downing half of the burning amber liquid.

"Moody contemplative Niklaus. Wonder how darling Caroline's stuck around for this long." Kol got no rise from his brother, and he knew that Klaus must have been sinking into a very dark mood if he didn't even rise to Kol's taunts.

"Come on, Nik. What's going on in that funny head of yours."

"None of your damned business, Kol."

"Temper, temper." Kol tutted, tilting his head, his eyes not quite hiding the worry he felt for his brother. Nothing ever got beneath his skin, and the rare times it did, it had never been over a girl. He hadn't seen him this caught up since Tatia, and even then that had been all rages against Elijah and lustful encounters in the woods with the Petrova whore who came between the brothers. Klaus had transformed himself into the ultimate killer, never caring or feeling, the only leniency he showed was towards his siblings, and even then that could wane.

"What sort of magical being is this girl, Nik, to get under your skin. Even I can't do that, and I've been annoying you for centuries."

"If you don't shut your face, Kol, you may find that you don't have one anymore." Klaus threatened, but it lacked punch.

"Are you worried, brother?"

"Kol…"

"Worried that she'll leave you?"

"Kol – "

"Or worried that she'll stay?"

"Kol,"

"Worried that you'll change her for the worse."

"Kol."

"Worried that you'll kill her spirit like you always do."

"Kol!"

"Worried that – "

"KOL."

Kol found himself pinned to the coffee table that buckled under the force of Klaus' foot pushing into Kol's chest.

"You would do well, brother, to remember your place. And remember mine. We are vampires, we do not care or love, and we certainly do not provoke brothers who are vastly more invincible than you."

"All this is proving that I am right, however." Kol said, disregarding the impending danger of his brother destroying him. "You truly care for this girl."

"She is merely a conquest."

"Really? Then why are you so worked up?"

"Because you would irritate the devil with your constant provoking!"

"Only if the devil had an infatuation with a certain baby vampire."

Klaus leaned down and gripped Kol's neck once more, hoping he could shut him up somehow.

"I do not have an infatuation. She is merely tempting and I will win her over and toss her aside like the many human girls from the past centuries."

"You are right, it's more than an infatuation. You've never put this much effort into anyone in the past, Nik. And you've never wooed a vampire." Kol choked as Klaus squeezed his throat, but he still forced his words out. "Just admit it. She's special."

Klaus snapped Kol's neck, sighing at the peace that followed.

"She's more than special, brother." He said to fill the silence, loosening his grip and shaking out his hand, turning to grab the bottle and skull it, ignoring his glass.

Kol woke up and knew not to revisit the topic of his little blonde baby vamp once he saw just how much liquor Klaus had consumed while he was out. He was still wondering how to plot his revenge for his brother killing him (for that really happened too often for Nik to get away so lightly – anger or no anger), when he heard the two blonde vampires return.

"Well, if it isn't our dear sister and guest." Kol crowed as the girls stumbled clumsily but daintily through the door. "Looks like Bekah got to her first, Nik." He called to Klaus as he entered the room again, resurfacing from his sketches.

"Caroline and I have had a little girl bonding time. I introduced her to the pleasures of Austrian liquor." Rebekah said proudly, disentangling herself from Caroline's smooth limbs and settling on the couch next to Kol. He offered her the bottle, and she wrinkled her nose in distaste, taking off her heeled boots.

"Kirschwasser's my new favorite." Caroline said with a slight stumble over the new German word.

Klaus watched as she tried Kol's scotch, holding back a chuckle as she shook her head in disgust at the taste. She caught sight of him again and made her way over with ever so slight trips of her feet. He stood his ground, even as a sudden voice told him to leave her alone, for she was too good for him and he would only corrupt her. He shut that voice up quickly with the fact that he only wanted to dominate her anyway, that it didn't matter about trivial things like feelings.

"Hello, love." He said lowly when she finally stopped in front of him with a sigh.

"Why aren't you drinking?" She said as if it were a crime.

It was so unprecedented that he couldn't help but chuckle. "I already had enough of that before." And it was all because of her. The thought sobered him fast. "You do realize that you and Rebekah have been out for at least 12 hours." Not like he was counting.

"Wow." She muttered, and Klaus was slightly pleased that she had spent time willingly with Rebekah without broken limbs. His baby sister meant a lot to him.

"Clearly you must have made an impression on her. Bekah's been known to get bored and just bring back her companions within an hour, snapped spine and all."

Caroline frowned. "Hey, don't sully her name. Your sister is a nice person." She said fiercely, surprising him when she poked his bicep to emphasize the last two words.

"I cannot believe I am hearing you defend my own sister." Klaus said, biting back laughter, his mood thoroughly improved.

"Yeah, well, she may be an evil blood s – girl – but that doesn't mean she isn't nice." Caroline said with a nod, and Klaus looked at her, wondering what on earth had made her change. He had half expected her to run, and yet here she was, without being chained to him or compelled.

She huffed a sigh at him, stunning him again as she pushed him back into the bedroom behind them.

"Our brother is finally getting some, Bek!" Kol exclaimed like the troublemaker he was, and the two Original siblings watched as Klaus flashed them the bird over Caroline's shoulder and shut the door.

Once in silence together, Caroline let her eyes reach his. He heard her breathing stutter before she turned away and paced over to the table, then the chair, avoiding the bed entirely.

"So…what did you and Kol get up to today?"

Ah. Kol's words echoed around his head, bringing with them his own thoughts from earlier that day. The ones he shouted to himself: that he wouldn't win her over, and the quieter ones he refused to admit: that maybe he was feeling something, but that she was far too good for him. That she might become a weakness. His personal weakness.

Klaus looked up to find Caroline had paused, studying him with her calculating eyes.

"Not much," He answered her question. "He kept going on with some irritating thought or another. I snapped his neck at one point." The other thought that she would run returned to him, and he had to stop himself from glaring at her. "I would have left, but I wasn't certain you would actually be returning at any point."

She returned his half-glare.

"I was out with your sister. Did you seriously think I would run?"

"Yes." He replied, and she fumed. He quietly noticed that she never looked so lovely as when she was aggravated with him.

"You're such a jerk. You can't keep me with a babysitter for every waking moment in the hopes that I won't run."

How little she knew him.

"You'll find that I can."

"Bastard." She shot at him, the colour rising to her cheeks.

"Tell me something I don't know, love."

It flipped her. She was suddenly right in front of him, the sudden rush bringing her scent sweeping over him, stunning him in a sunshine and lily haze.

"Stop calling me that!"

"Stop calling you what, sweetheart?" He grinned. If this was the way to provoke her nearer to him, then so be it.

"Stop calling me every single pet name in the book in an attempt to get me in your bed." Heat was coming off her in waves, and he realized it wasn't just from her anger, but another passionate emotion. Her entire body gave her away, the way her head was tilted, the way her eyes had darkened from sky blue to azure, the way her lips parted, the way her eyes would stare at his mouth. He breathed in through his mouth, and that was a big mistake. Her scent, her taste, washed over him, and he wanted to lean down to kiss her or drink her in, he didn't know which. She muddled his brain past a point of liquor and drunkenness, and he wanted to get drunk on her, get high on her presence.

"You talk such a big game, and you don't deliver." She murmured, her voice more of a rasp as they stood almost toe to toe, the inch of space between them a crying shame.

"Do you want me to deliver, then?" He teased, waiting and hoping for some sort of answer that he could manipulate around so he could finally kiss and conquer her.

"Never," Came the hissed reply, and he growled lowly, knowing there was absolutely no way around that.

He would have shifted backwards, but she started to lean in closer, and her eyelids fluttered. He could count the freckles on her nose, he could count her eyelashes, he could see every fleck of dark blue and subtle shades of green in her eyes. But he could also smell the subtle scent of the cherry liqueur on her elevated panting breaths, and he was brought back from a possible heaven with a crash.

"How much have you had to drink tonight, Caroline?" Klaus murmured, not wanting to have this happen in drunkenness. He wanted the pure essence that was Caroline, not a night that she would regret because of alcohol. No. If she were to regret it, it would have to be in the most evil way he could possibly obtain: her lust sweeping her away and her feeling miserable the next day because she couldn't blame it on anything but herself.

In truth, quietly, he wanted her to not feel any guilt or misery the next day. He secretly wanted her to never get enough of him, to never leave his side.

But he would much rather leave her side before she could leave him. He would prefer to inflict loneliness rather than feel it. He did not feel such trivial things.

Caroline pressed her lips to his, and it muddled up every evil thought. He did not think of how to maneuver her to the bed, he did not think of winning. He felt a wave of absolute and pure emotion. Joy. Happiness. Elation. Bliss. All things he could never associate with someone like himself, for he was damaged, he was not meant to feel such things.

And yet this bright angel was reassuring him without words. It felt as if she was saying that she would never leave him, sweetly telling him that she was there. She sucked in a breath, and he was brought slightly back from his stupor, pressing eagerly into the kiss, sucking on her bottom lip and reveling in the whimper it elicited. Caroline pressed against him, and he was trapped in this blissful moment. He puller her to him, needing to reassure himself that it wasn't a dream. The smooth skin of her back was there under his calloused fingers, and she shuddered against him, a small moan escaping from between her lips before her tongue was against his, tasting of cherries. He answered from the back of his throat, gasping in a breath.

"Caroline,"

"Klaus,"

But the air brought clarity, and he was reminded that the very thing she tasted of was what had brought her to kiss him. Alcohol. Not his skills or his efforts or his presence. She didn't want him.

He pulled away.

"You've had too much to drink."

The happy smile slipped off her face like it should have been accompanied by a sound affect. Thunk.

"Excuse me?"

Klaus stepped back, needing distance. No one should get that close, no one should get under his skin. And yet she had sweetly invaded his senses, opened his lips…

"You're not in your right mind." He said, in part to him as well as her.

"You can't be serious." She tried to laugh, but it faded away quickly. "Really? My god! So what, after everything, I cant kiss you because I want to? I kiss you, therefore I must be drunk because you didn't have to compel me or throw expensive jewellery or seductive phrases my way? How damaged do you have to be to think that I couldn't just kiss you because I am attracted to you, Klaus?"

She was attracted to him? In his wildest dreams, he couldn't, wouldn't, never would have thought that she would admit to it. He could have easily seen her succumbing to lust in a heat of passion, but never actually considered attraction, actual admitted attraction.

Nor could he consider a correct way for her to see how this affected him.

So he blanked it entirely. "I think you should just get some sleep, love."

Her determined face was back. "No, I think I should do something else." She said softly, walking towards him with a sway in his hips. He folded his arms across his chest, determined not to succumb to the tricks she was now using on him. He immediately wished that he hadn't when hurt clouded over her perfect blue eyes and he realized that her hurt was more painful to him than his own. It was like a knife in his back that he just couldn't reach to pull out. And it hurt.

"You don't think that maybe I want this too right now? Or are you just so broken that you have to lead me on in this sick game of yours to make me just as screwed up as you are? It hurts me too. It's humiliating. It's painful."

Her every word was like raining bullets, hitting precisely where she knew it would hurt him. Before she could see the impact she had on him, she had whirled around and stormed out, stomping down the hall and slamming a door behind her.

Rebekah glared at him like he had just delivered a personal grievance.

Kol looked at him with a mixture of pity and distaste – clearly he liked Caroline and cared for her feelings more than he'd ever admit.

"Really, brother. I thought you had more class than that."

Or maybe Kol was just ashamed at his brother's current lack of charm.

"Shut it, Kol."

"No, he's right. You're an ass." Rebekah reiterated sourly.

"Excuse me?"

"An ass. Its what's on your backside, Nik. And also is your face. And your whole person."  
"Oh, shut it, Kol."

"I was only trying to help, Rebekah."

"Niklaus." Rebekah brought back Klaus' attention before he completely lost it. "Caroline didn't even mention not wanting to be here with you today. She wants to be here. And she's the first friend I've had in decades. Don't ruin everything."

Clearly his siblings were just in it for their own amusement and gain. But then again, when were they not?

"None of this is to plan. She is the one ruining everything." Klaus muttered, pacing.

"Do you hear yourself? Stop acting like such a child and go in and apologize." Rebekah said edgily.

"No." Klaus snarled, storming out of the suite. He needed a drink. Of both kinds.

This late into the night it was difficult to find someone without some form of drugs or alcohol in his system, but he had been doing this for centuries. He went to a international bank, compelling his way up to the floor that did relations with Boston. It was far too easy, the only person left at that time was a woman in her late twenties. A red head, so he wouldn't have to be reminded of Caroline.

She was startled when she finally noticed him there, and he compelled her straight away. He wasn't in the mood to play games. Games were what had started this whole mess.

"You wont scream, you wont fight," After a moments hesitation, he added more commands. "You wont feel pain." That damned girl was getting to him. He hadn't felt anything close to compassion or humanity in centuries. He had been very comfortable in that till she had come along and screwed with his very being.

"Follow me."

Klaus led her to the coat room, oddly the only place those stupid humans hadn't thought to place a security camera, and bit into her neck.

It didn't sate him anywhere near where it used to.

The girl was not a screamer, but she did moan in pleasure, and he rolled his eyes at the sound. Pathetic. Nothing compared to that sound that Caroline had made when he had tugged at her lip and teased her –

Klaus drew back in disgust. No. This was definitely not what he was craving. And it had nothing to do with the woman's blood type, or even what she had been eating. Everything was right.

It was just him who wasn't right.

He was absolutely pathetic.

Klaus tried once more, drawing on the wound, but no, nothing, no cravings were satisfied. He sighed, nipping his wrist and feeding the red head his blood so she would heal.

"You won't remember anything. You are to go back to your desk and do your work."

She nodded, the wound on her neck already closing, and blinked.

Why was she alone in the cloak room? She must have needed something from the pocket of her coat. The woman shook her head, rubbed the side of her neck gently, and walked back to her desk.

Klaus walked across the city, not knowing what else to do. Drinking alcohol didn't appeal to him right now, not after the be all end all cure of blood had failed him.

What did he really want right now?

Caroline.

Well he could have had her before and he didn't, so who was to blame?

Himself.

And why hadn't he?

She was drunk. It wouldn't be winning the game if she was drunk.

Was it really about winning the challenge he had set for himself? He fancied the girl, did it mean that he had to settle with one fuck and then leave?

What if he wanted more?

His incessant footsteps paused momentarily before resuming.

More sex, that was. What if he wanted more than one fuck? He supposed he could continue till he inevitably tired of her.

Yes.

What if he never tired of her?

Could he imagine tiring of her? Tiring of her bright bubbly vivacity and her sunshine fresh scent and her constant eye rolling and her soft lips –

No.

He didn't know if that was the answer to the question his mind created or if it was simply his soul claiming that it had had enough of being searched for the night. He had to settle with two things. Him fancying Caroline, and him not being tired of her.

At least not yet.

But that didn't mean that he couldn't continue trying to win her over.

Klaus found himself at the hotel, and decided that enough was enough for the night.

He had only made it up to the suite when he sensed that something just wasn't right. He could hear Caroline's whimpers of fear, and he immediately jumped to insane conclusions. Someone had found them, and Kol and Rebekah were already slain or had made a run for it, and they were torturing Caroline. Or worse, his siblings were torturing Caroline.

But no, he could hear Kol's snores, and Bekah's gentle exhales, they were both asleep.

Was someone only attacking Caroline?

No. He shook his head at his thoughts. Her nightmare.

That didn't make it any less of a worry.

Klaus made it over to Caroline's room, scoffing softly at the locked door which he jimmied open easily. Who said that just because he was a vampire he had to break through doors? He padded over to her bed, but it wasn't as if he needed to be quiet. She was trapped in the dream just as surely as she was entangled in her bed sheets, which had twisted into a knot around her legs. She struggled blindly against them while panting great sobbing breaths.

Klaus forgot about everything he had just spent so much time analyzing and pondering over, encircling his arms around her and trying to bring her comfort in her terror.

Caroline continued to fight against his arms, but he held her steady.

"Caroline, Caroline, Caroline." He murmured in her ear, stroking her hair away from her temple, and suddenly her eyes flashed open and she was awake, but unseeing.

She burrowed unexpectedly into his chest, whimpering so softly that it was muffled in the cotton of his shirt and he had to strain to hear her.

"Why did I sleep – I shouldn't have – not without – so stupid – don't know why – " She babbled, and he was perplexed.

"Its okay now, you're safe." He murmured, and the way she looked at him made him feel like the hero in disguise, but she recognised him, and she knew him. She knew him.

"Why – " Caroline started, then broke off, curling into him as if he were the last anchor to the Earth, and she never wanted to let go. He mattered to her. She had been hurt, and he hadn't been there.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," He whispered. He never said sorry. He was never sorry. But he felt something akin to it now, and he wanted to express it to her, to the bright angel that he was corrupting, the angel who stayed even when she shouldn't, the angel that he, the devil, comforted in this backwards world they were creating.

Klaus waited till her breath had stopped hiccupping, before moving to place her back on the pillows and leave. He never stayed, she didn't want him to. And last night on the train…well…she had come to him, but that had been something unrepeatable.

Caroline grabbed at his shoulder, her grip gentle, but it touched his undead soul.

"Don't…" She swallowed, inhaled, looked up at him with those large blue eyes that he fell into. "Stay?"

How could he possibly refuse? Yet she looked at him like he would, like her very world depended on his answer.

"Alright." Klaus answered. He had never voluntarily stayed. Ever. He had never been asked, and the women who he had bedded who had lingered were disposed of one way or another. But he never slept next to anyone. For many good reasons.

And yet with one plea from the baby vampire, he was crumbling, eagerly taking her in his arms and settling down to rest like he would actually rest for any portion of the night, sleeping or awake. Klaus was not one for resting.

But he stayed.

And he awoke to the most wonderful thing.

Caroline was watching him, face soft as her eyes skimmed over his features along with her fingers.

His first thought was that it was a trick. He had been alone for a thousand years and hunted for just as long, of course he immediately thought that it wasn't something pleasant. But then his senses returned to him, and he unlocked his limbs.

It certainly helped that her fingers had the most soothing touch he had ever felt. Klaus closed his eyes, savoring the feeling. He doubted for every single second that he would feel it again. Despite the lack of alcohol in this situation, he couldn't imagine Caroline doing any loving thing towards him without prompting. Passionate, yes, but with some slight prompting. But caring, loving, like the beautiful way her lips now graced the sharp line of his jaw? Without a single word from him? Never.

"Thank you staying." Caroline whispered against his stubble, and he nodded, opening his eyes to look at her. Her eyes flickered down to his lips, and then back up, a teasing lilt to her eyes.

Klaus took a chance, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear and cupping her cheek and neck, feeling her elevated pulse and the way she leaned gently towards his touch, like a cat.

He leaned up slowly to kiss her, imaging the whole time that she would pull away or push him off.

She didn't.

How Klaus had left her lips last night he would have no idea. He just knew that unless he was forcibly removed, he wouldn't plan on leaving them again anytime soon. The day in Vienna seeing museums and concerts swiftly left his head, and all he was left with were those damned feelings again. He was aware of feelings.

How his heart leapt as her hand threaded and curled around the hair at the base of his neck.

How he wanted to hear the little sigh she made on constant repeat as his lips roved over hers.

How he felt a warmth growing in his chest of all places, right between his lungs, expanding and glowing like a miniature sun.

Caroline rolled over so she was ontop of him, and he was suddenly completely unaware of everything. She tugged on his lip with her teeth, and he retaliated by showering her neck with opened mouthed kisses, finding her pulse point and sucking.

Her breathing hitched and she snarled, delighting him.

"Bite me."

Klaus couldn't believe his ears alone, and he lifted his head to study her face. She looked put out that he had left her neck, but nodded.

"Do it."

He had always assumed that she had not had a good experience when she was turned. He knew plenty of vampires who had been used before being created into the creatures of darkness they were now. It was something he had always kept separate. And he had never known what circumstances had lead to the sublime fate that had rendered Caroline immortal.

But here she was, the girl who refused to use humans, stating that yes, please, would Klaus bite her?

He allowed her to watch his face transform, not wanting to surprise her, to show her what she had signed up for. Caroline watched with heavy lidded eyes, her breathing accelerating and her eyes darkening.

And then he was biting into her neck, and finally the rush he had been expecting when he had fed earlier was flooding through him. Caroline was the most exquisite thing he had beheld, and the most glorious thing he had tasted.

Klaus cradled her head, directing her towards his own neck. No one had ever fed from him there. He had disliked even the thought of being that connected and vulnerable, had always kept the distance. But after Caroline had shed all pretence, he felt it was fair, necessary, right that she should have the same from him.

She bit into him ever so gently, but it sent a powerful feeling coursing through them both.

He was hers.

She was his.

They brought their lips back together, high on the feeling of bloodlust mixing with pure lust.

Klaus flipped them over so she was beneath him, and she let out a small throaty laugh at his need for control. He pressed into her, letting her see just what she did to him, just how much control she had over him.

Her breath left her in a whoosh, and he smirked as she pressed against him in response.

"Niklaus…" He heard her murmur, and he kissed her as she leaned up towards him, but pulled back to study her face. Did she know what she had just said? Did she know what it meant to him?

"Say that again, love." Klaus growled hoarsely, biting with blunt teeth at her now healed neck, and Caroline clutched at him.

"Nik…" She moaned, and her legs slithered around his waist, ensuring that he wouldn't leave. As if he ever would.

He pressed a searing kiss to her lips, and another, and another, feeling her heartbeat flutter underneath him –

"Do you two mind? It is six in the morning, why can't you just sleep rather than have sex."

He was going to murder Kol. He was going to bring back his mother from the charming spot in hell that she resided in, just to find another way to destroy his brother so Klaus would never have to deal with him again.

"Kol,"

"Kol, I hope you're ready for breakfast, because I'm about to tear out your intestine and feed it to you." Caroline called from between his arms, a look of pure fire alight on her face.

He was so happy he had found a treat like her. She was superb.

"Caroline, I hope you're ready to stop making out with my brother, because I have big plans for us today."

Klaus would let hell freeze over before his siblings would steal Caroline away from him today.

"God, is this a bloody zoo?" His face was livid as he opened the door to his siblings. It was the face of death and terror, fangs and wolverine features out, and he noted with pleasure how Kol and Rebekah flinched away. Clearly this was the new face he would use against his enemies.

"The pair of you should be kind to remember that Caroline is here as my guest. That means that I will be showing her the city, and you may join, but by no means will you dictate what happens. Need I remind you that you are also both here under my name? By all means, feel free to leave at any time."

"Nik." Came a soft, chastising voice behind him, and it took him a second to realize that Caroline had called him that. Caroline. She blushed under the look that he and his siblings gave her. "Klaus." She amended, and directed her gaze towards the two Originals. "Sorry for the noise. We'll see you two later. Please don't complain anymore than necessary."

Rebekah nodded, sneaking a sly look between Klaus and Caroline as she walked off. Kol had the audacity to waggle his eyebrows and wink before leaving. Klaus shut the door with a huff, turning slowly to face Caroline again.

She looked so tempting, in the bed they had slept in, wrapped in those sheets, hair rumpled from his hands, lips swollen from his kisses. Looking at him with just as much desire as he felt.

She shook her head with a smile, breaking the seductive mood that had settled over them again.

"Breakfast?" She said brightly, hopping out of bed and stretching.

Klaus admired her long legs, the sliver of her hipbone and stomach that was revealed with her movements, the way she jutted her chest out and the slope of her elegant neck.

He returned to her eyes, knowing he had been caught staring, and she smiled rather than scoffed. He almost smiled in return.

"Of course. Shall we dine on each other, or did you have something else in mind."

Caroline rolled her eyes, but her smile was soft.

"How about treating me to Vienna? Just like you planned."

"Well, you've managed to change my goals ever so slightly now, love. My mind is a little hazy on exactly what I had planned that was outside this room right now."

She giggled, and he hesitantly walked over to her, expecting her to vanish into a puff of smoke, or shy away from him. She didn't seem real, here laughing with him in the light that streamed in through the window, and he was waiting to wake up and find himself in Mystic Falls without her.

Caroline helped him by meeting him halfway, meeting his hesitant hands with hers and meeting his hesitant lips with her quick kiss. Naturally, it turned into more than just a quick kiss, but this time she broke away.

"Breakfast. Or I'll snack on you."

"I truly wouldn't mind that, sweetheart."

"Breakfast. As in, food, coffee, toast, whatever they have here." She said sternly, but the impish smile never left her face, and for once he let a true smile grace his lips in return. She pressed a kiss to one of those dimples, before pushing him out the door.

"Go get changed. We'll go for a walk in five minutes and get breakfast."


	11. Viennese Waltz

"I say lets go here."

"And I say we should keep walking to a place I know of."

Klaus and Caroline had managed to leave the hotel without further interruption from Kol and Rebekah, and had strolled down the streets in relative peace. The outside world with its fresh air and sunlight gave them clarity and a shade of shyness, and they walked in sync, their arms swinging in unison – but not touching.

Caroline unknowingly led them to a bakery she and Rebekah had passed the day before, and she insisted that they just stop there for breakfast. The scent of pastry and coffee enticed her, along with the warm glow of the café lights.

Naturally, Klaus didn't want to go somewhere he hadn't been, that he hadn't chosen.

Naturally, Caroline wanted more control than that.

"Come on, Klaus, its here, it smells good." Caroline smiled and returned the wave that the little nonna running the shop sent them through the window. "And she seems so cute. Please?"

"Its just a random bakery. And you are in Vienna, on the opposite side of the world. You can go anywhere. Why do you want to go here of all places?" Klaus couldn't understand why she would feel a need to do anything that had little to no relevance or historical significance.

She shook her head. "Because its normal. People go here for a coffee before work. I'm sure there's a story behind why that lady runs the shop. Its interesting. Its different. And its normal."

Caroline saw how Klaus studied her, and she sighed. "Not to mention, you did promise I could know where we were going and also have some control. Well, here is where it starts."

"With a bakehouse?"

"Exactly. It'll be good for you, Klaus."

He huffed a sigh, but raised his hands in acceptance.

Caroline practically skipped into the shop, pleased. Until she realized it was all in German.

"Damn."

"Guten Morgen. Darf ich bitte zwei croissants und ein marillenknödel." Klaus broke away from the quick German talk to turn to Caroline. "Coffee?"

She was impressed by his easy, fluent speech. "Latte, please."

"Und eine latte und ein americano."

"Sicherlich." The woman nodded, a smile in her rosy cheeks as she added up on the till.

"Hallen die änderung." Klaus said as he waved off the woman's outstretched hand with the change, passing the coffee to Caroline.

The nonna beamed. "Danke!"

"How do you do that?" Caroline said with a short laugh as they sat down at a tiny table. Due to the early hour, it was relatively quiet, but Klaus still angled his chair closer to hers.

"Do what, love?"

"Know absolutely everything."

"One of my annoying talents." He smirked, offering her three sugar sachets without asking.

Caroline blinked at his hand for a moment, and his brow furrowed.

"You take a lot of sugar in your coffee, right?"

"How…?"

"I noticed in our travels, every time we had coffee you would put about half the sugar bowl in your cup." Klaus smirked at her expression. "And its very kind of you to be thinking that I'm a mind reader right now, but I'm merely observant."

"Ah, then how did you know I was thinking that?" She retorted, earning a chuckle.

"Touché, little one."

She found herself watching his dimples flash like lightening across his face before his mouth returned to that delicious shape with the deep cupids bow and the sweeping bottom lip – and she busied herself with stirring the sugar into her cup till it dissolved, just so she wouldn't think about it.

"So, we have croissants and…what was it again?"

"Marillenknödel. It's a traditional pastry with an apricot inside." He saw her dubious face, and resisted the urge to roll his eyes, knowing the moment he picked up that habit from her, Kol would never let him live it down. "Just try it."

She bit into the dumpling-shaped treat, surprised to come across the fresh fruit despite Klaus' warning. Nevertheless, she liked it.

"Eat some too before I demolish it." Caroline insisted, making sure she was busy with her coffee when he tried it, or else she would get distracted again. It so did not help that she was now fully aware of his god-like features and she no longer had the barrier of faux-hate to hide behind.

"So what's the plan today?" She asked, biting into the croissant hungrily.

"I thought you would want control today." Klaus said, puzzled.

"Perfect! Then I'll plan it."

"Hold your horses, love. I've got plenty of things arranged; I merely thought that you would put up a fight. So-" He held up a finger as she opened her mouth to protest. "So how about you tell me your plan and I'll tell you mine and we'll see which is better."

Caroline huffed. "Don't really agree, but sure, go ahead."

"Ladies first." He tilted his head towards her, shredding his croissant into bites with his long fingers.

She bit her lip, her eyes focusing on the way his hands moved, and how he brought each bit to his lips –

Caroline scowled at him and he flashed a winning smile.

"I didn't plan anything. I was just going to wander, see where the city led us. I'm thinking maybe a park, sight seeing…" She glanced at him. "Or maybe just more shopping with Rebekah."

Klaus looked up at her with a mixture of disapproval and playfulness. "No."

"Well fine, control king. Where would we go in your world?"

He licked his lips and smiled, and she knew whatever was to come next was not going to be good for her.

"We would go back to the hotel. Rebekah and Kol would leave immediately, and we would finally have some privacy. I'd finally kiss you like I want to right now, hold you like I want to right now, make you experience the most pleasure you've ever felt in your life, because I want you to feel that and more. Of course after that, we'd have to christen every room in the suite, since never in history has there been hot hybrid/vampire sex there, so I would take you on the bed, the sofa, the table…"

Caroline swallowed. "Well,"

"Yes?" Klaus had the most evil smug smile on his face. He hoped he had finally outfoxed her.

"Well, that's certainly a possibility."

His eyes darkened like a bright sea in a storm.

"But I'm in the mood for a city wander." Caroline said, sticking to her guns. If her main weapon to get under his skin at the moment was sex, she was going to use it to her advantage till the time was right.

"Oh, come on, love." Klaus groaned. "If you're feeling that energetic, I'm sure I can think of an activity that will sate you."

"No thanks. Not hungry enough to be sated."

"Truly? I'm fairly certain you wouldn't have said that an hour ago."

Caroline flushed slightly. "I just had breakfast. I'm not hungry anymore."

Klaus exhaled, leaning back in his chair and letting her breathe, no longer trapped in his intense gaze. "Alright. But I'll take that as a challenge."

She straightened up at that. "Fine. Then so will I."

"What are the terms?"

"First one to give in…loses."

"Interesting." He purred, and she worried just what she had gotten herself into.

"So what's the plan?" Rebekah asked when the pair returned to the hotel. Caroline instantly panicked that the Original somehow knew of the deal she had just made with Klaus.

"Excuse me?"

"Well unlike you two, I'd actually like to do something in this city aside from make out like a pair of teenagers." Rebekah said dryly. Klaus smirked slightly, glancing down to the ground, pleased with himself. Caroline dug her elbow into his ribs, and his smirk grew bigger.

"Shall you choose or shall I?" Klaus asked Caroline, who set her jaw stubbornly. She may not know much about Vienna, but she would at least get some sort of say in where they went.

"I will." She nodded, before glancing over to Rebekah. "What's a good thing to do in Vienna?"

"Drink coffee, listen to classical music…really, we pretty much did the highlight yesterday." Rebekah said, while Kol walked in rolling his eyes.

"Yes, shopping would be the highlight in any city for you."

"Anywhere you can think of that would annoy Klaus the most?" Caroline ignored Kol's statement and Klaus' reaction to her words.

"Oh, I like you." Kol grinned.

"Shut it, Kol." Klaus snarled.

Rebekah rolled her eyes and smiled at Caroline. "I've got just the place."

"Tiergarten? Really, Rebekah?"

"I figured it would annoy you boys the most and get an interesting reaction from Caroline."

"I've never been to a zoo."

The three Originals looked at Caroline with matching perplexed expressions.

"Really, love?" Klaus asked, and Caroline shrugged.

"Did you see any zoo in Mystic Falls?"

"No. And one of you freaky vegetarians would have been too tempted to eat the animals anyway." Rebekah scoffed, and the brothers chuckled even as Caroline crossed her arms in annoyance.

"Very funny."

"Well, I thought it was." Rebekah replied, and smiled sweetly when Caroline pouted at her.

"Sweetheart, you'll have to stop that." Klaus murmured into her ear. "I'll be too tempted to do certain things to your mouth."

"You do that, and you lose." She said with a smirk, before strolling off towards the bear enclosure without them.

"What are you losing now, aside from your manhood?" Kol asked.

"Long story. Just don't get in the way today, and I'll make sure you'll live with all your bones intact." Klaus said, before they all began walking after the baby vamp.

"Deal. But if Caroline asks for my help, I might have to take her side." Kol grinned.

"Family above all, Kol. Even if the little tramp is lovely." Rebekah reproached, hissing back at Klaus' warning look.

"Yes, Bek, but she has breasts."

"The two of you are lucky we are in public, or you would both be on the ground in pieces right now." Klaus snapped at both of them. "Behave, will you?"

"Yes, mother." Kol sulked, and Klaus didn't even bother with a response as they caught up to Caroline. She stood by the fence, watching the brown bears lumber around peacefully.

"Any reason why you chose bears, Caroline?" Rebekah asked.

"Bears are familiar? I don't know, I've never seen things like lions and tigers and –"

"Bears, oh my?" Kol finished. "Well, you know bears, lets see what we can do about the rest."

The four wandered. Rebekah looked far too fashionable, like a model who had wandered into a zoo. Klaus seemed incredibly out of place, but amused, as Caroline wandered with wide eyes, looking at the creatures she had never seen before. Kol, in particular, got the good end of the deal.

"Hey, Kol, what does the sign say?" Caroline asked, pointing to one of the many signs written in German.

"Haven't the foggiest. Why not ask my brother?"

"Because if I ask him, he'll revert it back to how we could be doing 'better things' right now."

"And if you ask me, he just gets jealous. I see the appeal. It's a win win lose."

"Exactly why I like it." Caroline smiled, winking at Klaus where he stood on the other side of the viewing area with Rebekah. The hybrid glowered back at them, and Kol smirked.

"I like your plans. Even just your very presence riles up my brother. He's the most animated I've seen him since…" Kol broke off and glanced guiltily at Klaus, who did not notice his little brothers expression.

Kol covered up the moment by flashing a cheeky smile at Caroline.

"Want to really annoy Nik?"

Caroline glanced sideways at the dark haired Original. She was very suspicious and curious about the little slip up, but willing to go along with any plan to irk Klaus to her advantage. It seemed to have become part of their charm – Klaus and Caroline could frustrate each other to the tipping point and then use that fire in the most pleasurable, explosive way possible. The events of last night and the morning had shown them that. Caroline honestly couldn't wait for that tipping point. She'd just have to make sure she didn't get there first, to push Klaus there so he gave in before she did. She could not lose.

"What do you have in mind?" She asked.

Kol grinned, glancing over at his sister and lifting his eyebrows. Rebekah immediately began talking to Klaus in an effort to grab his attention.

"A game of chase." Kol responded to Caroline quietly, waiting.

There.

Klaus looked over to Rebekah for a second.

That was all it took.

Kol clasped Caroline's wrist and sprinted. They ran past unknowing tourists in a blur, coming to a stop on an entirely different path.

Caroline exhaled with a breathless giggle, the adrenaline pumping through her veins. Kol's eyes were alight with mischief.

"Oh, he's gonna kill you." She laughed.

"Wouldn't be the first time, darling." Kol shrugged. "I'm counting on you to distract him with your charms before he does any damage to me."

"Deal."

Kol strolled down the path with his hands in his pockets, an echo of his older brother Elijah. Caroline shook her head almost fondly and followed him.

"So, do you do this with all of Klaus' lady friends?" She asked casually.

"That depends. What is 'this', and how are you Nik's lady friend?"

"This would be kidnapping slash conspiring with. And of course I'm Klaus' lady friend. What else would my title be in this scenario?"

"His girlfriend?" Kol waggled his eyebrows, and Caroline scoffed.

"Klaus does not have 'girlfriends'."

"Very true, darling. He's just got you."

Caroline looked over at Kol sharply. He didn't even bat an eye, preferring to study the path they treaded upon.

"You can't seriously say that Klaus had never had a girlfriend, or something of the sort before me."

"You'll find that I can. To an extent." Kol evaded, and Caroline's brow furrowed.

"Whats the extent?"

Kol clamped his mouth shut, and Caroline stopped walking, folding her arms. He stopped too, but still refused to meet her glare.

"Tell me, Kol."

Silence.

"Tell me, or I swear, I'll tear out a few ribs."

Kol met her blue gaze with his dark eyes.

"Remember, Caroline, I am not my brother. I wont tolerate your fire constantly like he does, because I don't get any fiery action to compensate. You are a baby vampire, less than a year fresh, and I have lived for a thousand years."

Caroline, to her credit, didn't back down or flinch. She just watched Kol levelly till he had finished the lecture.

"You done?"

Kol narrowed his eyes, but otherwise didn't move. "Yes."

"Good. Now tell me what you meant."

Kol sighed, looking around them where they were in solitude along the path. "Fine. You'll have to find out sometime. Just lets keep moving. Niklaus is a very good tracker."

"Remind me why I agreed to this little plan?" Caroline quipped, still following after Kol as he continued to walk, turning down a smaller path through the native spruce trees.

"Do you want to find out about Tatia or not?" Kol snapped back at her.

That made Caroline focus straight away.

"Tatia?"

"The first Petrova."

"Caroline and Kol have disappeared." Rebekah noted, holding back a smile as Klaus turned like a raging tornado.

"What?!"

"No matter. We can just have some lovely brother sister time."

Klaus turned to her with a calculating look. "You wouldn't happen to have anything to do with this, would you?"

"None at all, dear brother." Rebekah smiled.

Klaus gave her a look, and she sighed, following him as he paced off.

"Nevertheless, of course I will help you, thank you for asking for my assistance, Niklaus."

"Cut the dramatics, Rebekah."

"Says the man who is panicking because Caroline has vanished with Kol. They are probably just socializing."

Klaus halted his stride and turned back to Rebekah. "I do not panic. I am merely concerned."

Rebekah smiled. "Concern implies caring."

"I am uneasy, then." He corrected with a grimace at his sisters insight.

"How so?"

"Because if she is with Kol, what's to prevent him from causing trouble? And then what's to prevent her from running?" With that, Klaus turned and scanned the crowds of people who were gawking at the animals. Nothing was out of place to them, which told him that there hadn't been any odd activity to say that there were vicious monsters nearby.

Caroline had gone willingly with Kol then.

"Honestly, Nik, what is the appeal? Why are you pursuing her?" Rebekah wondered at her brothers actions. She hadn't seen him this agitated over a girl who wasn't crucial to some plan of his. The doppelgangers had been a means to an end, and perhaps so was Caroline, but even so, it seemed unprecedented.

Klaus didn't even bother to look at his sister, too intent on trying to focus his senses in the crowd. "She is pure, Rebekah. It may not be something you can wrap your mind around. But on a more basic level, it is about sex. Perhaps you might understand that."

She didn't appreciate the low blow. "I sleep with Damon and suddenly I'm a whore in your eyes." Rebekah growled, not happy with his lack of focus on his family. "I'm not the only one to have had relations with him, you know. Caroline – "

That caught his attention immediately.

"What about Caroline?" Klaus said in a low voice, spinning and advancing towards Rebekah, who was suddenly speechless.

"Rebekah."

"I probably shouldn't tell you." Rebekah had been brought up with five brothers, and despite having a few friends in the village, she hadn't made many female friends. She had certainly not been schooled in the 'girl rules' of this century. But she knew that Caroline would not be happy with her if she told Klaus.

"It's a little late for that." Klaus said with a dark tone, towering over her. "What does Caroline have to do with Damon?"

"Well who do you think turned her?" She said, not willing to say the words herself. If she hinted to it, it wasn't as bad as saying it, right?

"Damon turned her?"

"That's what I think."

His face turned murderous. "So then what do you think happened to turn her? You said that you weren't the only one to sleep with him. Do you think he used her?"

"I don't know for sure." Rebekah answered truthfully.

"But you'd hazard a guess to say that she was his personal blood bag." Klaus spat, his rage showing in his eyes and teeth.

Rebekah, though slightly frightened at her brothers sudden anger, was accustom to it, and glanced around to ensure that no one had seen the glimpse of the monster that hid beneath his skin.

"Niklaus, you must calm yourself. You don't know any of these things for certain until you talk to Caroline. And I wouldn't advise doing that. Knowing you, it would ruin the trip, and then she would run for sure, and where would you be?"

Klaus retracted his fangs, though it took some effort, and he inhaled slowly through his nose.

"You care for her, more than you let on. I see that, though you try to hide it –"

"Do you smell that?" Klaus said, walking forward.

Rebekah sniffed. "No?"

"Well I do. I know where they are." Klaus said, his face intent since he had come across the scent of his prey. "And I'm going to catch them."

"So, now you know." Kol said nonchalantly.

Caroline was not as unperturbed. "I know what; just how much I can get hurt if I stick around with Klaus?"

"No, darling. How passionate my brothers love can be. How high his regard can be. And even if he couldn't protect her as a human, he protected her memory as a vampire. He hasn't allowed himself to feel for a thousand years, Caroline."

"Are you saying that what he is doing now shows feeling?" She half scoffed, not sure what to think or do.

"All I'm saying is that he's never tried this hard to impress someone. Ever. Even when he was a human." Kol watched the sentence and its meaning sift through Caroline's thoughts. He knew Klaus would not be happy that he told her of his brothers past, but if Caroline knew upfront, then maybe Klaus would have a chance. And if his brother was happy, life would be bloody simpler. And if Kol was the one to help bring them together, he would be the one to thank. And if he helped Caroline in particular, he would have a great ally for any instance where Klaus would threaten to dagger them again. He liked those benefits. And the odds he had to gamble with were good enough, even if they were a little risky.

Kol let Caroline walk ahead in peace, giving her some space to think. He figured she needed a little time, thought it was a good idea.

In hindsight, it wasn't. At least not for Kol.

Caroline turned when she heard a whoosh of air that usually accompanied a vampire running. Kol was no longer on the path behind her. She then heard a loud crash as something, or someone, was smashed against a tree somewhere in the forest around them.

Klaus must have found them, and he was bound to be pissed.

Unable to face him right away with the knowledge she now held, Caroline fled. She was running from him. She somehow knew it would happen. She had never expected it to hurt to run from him. She had never expected it to feel like she was running away from something she took comfort in. She never expected it to feel wrong to run away from the big bad wolf.

She didn't run in fear of him. No. She ran for fear that she wasn't fearful of him. It was too much of a brain teaser to comprehend, until she deciphered it into one thing: Caroline wanted to stay. She wanted to stay with Klaus. The thought washed through her, calming her, soothing her, giving her peace.

At a loss with this newfound feeling, Caroline continued onwards, wandering with the crowd rather than fleeing at top speed.

She found herself by the wolf enclosure, and almost laughed. It wasn't possible. But still, she knew it would give her some time alone, since Klaus would never figure she was in such an ironic enclosure.

Caroline leaned her forearms against the railing, watching the wolves sniff around and letting her mind wander. She had never seen Klaus as a wolf. She had seen Tyler, had helped him transform, but while she saw the similarities between Tyler and his lupine form, she couldn't even picture how Klaus could possibly look. He was so much, too much, all energy and power rolled into one impossible man. It simply wasn't plausible to imagine him in any other form.

Caroline was brought sharply back to reality when a vice-like hand gripped her upper arm. She jolted and turned her face to see the near snarling Original, his anger just rippling beneath his usual blank mask.

"Surprise, sweetheart."

"Let go." She said levelly.

"Why should I, when you'll just start running without warning again?" He shot back.

"I wasn't running."

Klaus raised an eyebrow.

"It was merely a walk." Caroline said, thinking it would be easiest to cover it all up as a game rather than admit to what she now knew. "Its your fault that you lost me."

"I didn't lose you. I found you."

"Clearly I suck at Hide and Seek."

Klaus was nowhere near the mood to laugh, but her attempt at humor lifted his mood slightly and made his anger fade. He let his grip loosen from her arm, and mirrored her position, forearms against the rail.

"Kol told me." Caroline murmured, still watching the wolves. Klaus knew what she must have discovered.

"Rebekah told me." He answered, and Caroline wondered what she could have told him for a moment till she remembered the conversation at the lingerie shop.

"Then it looks like its time to get the daggers out. Clearly we can't trust your siblings." Caroline joked half heartedly.

Klaus didn't say anything for a moment, mulling over words in his head.

"If Kol told you about my past when I was a human…" He let loose a very un-Klaus-like exhale that was weighted with nerves and sincerity. "Then you should know that while Tatia was my first love, it was a weak, pathetic human love, and I've never let myself feel something so inferior ever since."

Caroline couldn't quite relate. Though she knew what she had felt for Damon was a crush and infatuation, and Matt had taught her to love even if she wasn't his first choice, and Tyler had shown her how to be her stronger, sexier self, she had never experienced that first love that she kept hearing about. First love was meant to be stupid and reckless and whole hearted, and even if she had loved with all her being, she had never done so with all her heart.

But she did understand Klaus. He let himself get hurt in the past, and he learnt from whatever he concluded was a mistake. But it was still uncharacteristic of him to admit something so deeply personal without hiding behind his sarcastic mask, and she felt a need to show him it was alright while returning the gesture.

"You heard I dated Damon, I'm guessing."

Klaus nodded, lips pressed together fiercely.

"Well, he used me. I was his human snack, a blood bag, a toy. And after I was turned, I felt so insignificant and raw and so, so angry. But I got over it. And I moved on. And he got a little better. But that's why I just cant bring myself to do what you all do. I don't want to subject someone else to that. It's awful."

"Who turned you?" He asked quietly after a pause.

"Katherine. She turned me to send a message to the Salvatores."

Klaus became rigid with anger once more.

"Klaus?" Caroline's voice reminded him to keep calm.

"Well then I'm thankful we left those bloody Salvatores and their riff raff behind. You're better off with a monster like me than them. But if I ever come across that Petrova again, I will rip her heart out."

Caroline placed a hand on Klaus' arm when his eyes flashed yellow, and he turned to her, amazed that she didn't draw back in fear. Instead, she drew closer, pressing a feather-light kiss to the corner of one eye.

They returned to Kol and Rebekah in better spirits, and it set both of the Originals off instantly.

"Why isn't Nik tearing out my liver right now?"

"What did you do to him, Caroline?"

"Enough." Klaus snapped, and Caroline jumped in before he could ruin the perfectly good mood they had somehow returned to.

"Lets just go grab some lunch before your brother turns into Mr Hyde."

"I'm always Mr Hyde, love."

They left Tiergarten to stroll through Schönbrunn Garden outside the palace. Despite the talk they just had, Caroline noticed that she was left with Rebekah and Kol while Klaus went to grab some sort of food.

"Is he going to babysit me the whole trip?" She huffed as they lounged on the warm green grass.

"Yes." Kol replied simply, tilting his head back to let the sun touch his face.

"Especially if you do anything like that trick earlier." Rebekah added.

"Even though it was fun." Kol grinned.

"Fun? He beat you up." Caroline shook her head.

Kol shrugged. "Worth it. The little experiment paid off. Apparently you have some sort of voodoo power, Miss Forbes. You tamed the wild beast."

Klaus returned to the three of them snickering.

"What's that?" Caroline asked as he sat down and passed around the small parcels he held in his hands.

"Palatschinken. Crepes with spinach and cheese."

"Wow," Caroline mumbled around the edge of the crepe.

"Nowhere near as good as that businessman over there would taste, but still acceptable." Rebekah said as she eyed off the man in a suit who sat on the bench across the path.

"Rebekah," Klaus said in warning, well aware of Caroline's aversion to feeding after their unprecedented talk.

"What?"

"I'm going to get fat on these pastries." Caroline interjected, not wanting to dwell on darker topics.

"That's the beauty of being a vampire, darling." Kol hummed. "We get to enjoy all life has to offer and not worry about such trivial things. Aside from Rebekah and her mannish behavior."

"Pig." Rebekah sneered, not bothering to tear her eyes away from the delicious looking suited man.

Caroline stifled a giggle, and while Klaus felt something akin to happiness at her light mood, he also felt a wave of jealousy from her interactions with Kol. 'Darling'? No. He had already wasted time fighting over one girl, and he would never forgive his younger brother if it happened again.

"So what's the plan after this, Nik? I'm guessing we don't get a say in what's happening next." Kol said, lying back and stretching his legs.

"Of course." Klaus said, forcing a pleasant smile at his brother.

"Please don't subject us to any museums." Rebekah drawled, closing her eyes and soaking in the suns rays. "We've already lived through it all."

"Caroline hasn't." Klaus pointed out.

"Caroline will have another thousand years to catch up."

"I wouldn't mind. The Hermitage was nice." Caroline piped up. "Especially that one painting…god, what was the name…with the girl and the boy…"

"The Stolen Kiss?" Rebekah asked with a funny look.

"That's the one!" Caroline sighed, ignorant of Rebekah's sudden smile. "Its incredible. That moment just locked on the canvas, and the idea that she has that choice to give in or leave, and the way she just leans into him…" Caroline let the memory of the painting fade from before her eyes, noticing how Kol and Rebekah bit their lips and held back laughter. "What?"

"And who painted that, again?" Kol asked, shooting a glance towards Klaus.

"I cant remember...a French man?"

"Nik?"

"Fragonard." Came his short reply, not meeting his siblings mischievous eyes.

"Interesting. Caroline, you know Nik has a painting hanging – "

"In the Hermitage, yes." Caroline finished Rebekah's sentence, recalling the Mikaelson's ball and Klaus' subtle line of how he had a painting hanging at the Hermitage, 'not that anyone would notice'.

"Do you remember seeing any artwork that Nik said was his?"

"No, we didn't speak a word the whole time."

"Very interesting." Kol smiled, and Caroline looked between the three. Klaus was focusing on the blade of grass between his fingers, and Kol and Rebekah were glancing between Caroline and their brother.

"What's going on?"

"Caroline, poppet, you know Nik actually painted that artwork under Fragonard's name."

She froze.

"What?"

"Niklaus painted The Stolen Kiss. Surely you've figured that out." Kol smirked.

Klaus looked up to meet Caroline's eyes.

She surprised him, tackling him so he fell backwards onto the grass. At first he thought it was out of anger, not accustom to physical contact, and a snarl bubbled up in his throat. However, it died down quickly when he realized that she was kissing him. His arms wrapped around her, pressing her infinitely closer to him.

"What's this for?" He murmured in between kisses.

"Why didn't you tell me you'd painted it? That's my favorite painting."

Caroline hadn't even finished saying the last word before Klaus captured her mouth hungrily with his own.

"Please, for the love of whatever afterlife I'm never going to go to, get a room." Kol scoffed.

"Please, for your own safety, Kol, leave. Beks, though I love having you around, I'd be happy for you to join him." Caroline said, breaking away from bliss for just a moment to retort.

"No matter, Caro. I might go have some real lunch."

"No killing."

"Whatever."

"So what is this mysterious thing that you're taking me to tonight?" Caroline asked as they strolled along the cobbled pavement, the lamp lights illuminating patches in the dark.

Klaus tore his eyes away from the expanse of smooth skin that her green backless dress revealed, stopping just before the small of her back, to see Caroline looking at him, a impish twinkle in her sky blue eyes. He slowly ran his hand from her hip up the contour of her spine, feeling her shudder into his embrace as his arm continued back down to wind around her waist.

"You'll find out. Are you cold?" His lips brushed her ear with a soft caress.

Caroline closed her eyes. "You know vampires don't get cold."

"Sweetheart, if you don't want my jacket, you could just say so."

"You're only offering so no one ogles my back the way you just did." She laughed, but still huddled gratefully into his jacket as he draped it around her shoulders. She smiled slightly as his scent enveloped her intoxicatingly.

"That too. You look far too ravishing in that dress."

"And you're running out of compliments." Caroline teased, pushing him gently towards the brick building to her right. Klaus insisted on walking on the street side of the pavement while they walked, because despite his murderous ways, gentlemanly habits died hard. But Caroline still found a way to press him against the wall, edging closer to his mouth.

Klaus chuckled.

"Are you trying to tempt me, Caroline?"

"Well that depends. Is it working?" She asked, skimming her nose along his jaw line.

"All too well." He admitted, dipping his face towards hers, their lips an inch apart. "However, I don't think we should be late." Klaus murmured, his lips just brushing against hers in the most tantalizing way.

"I'm sure we can be a little late." She wheedled, peppering open-mouthed kisses from the corner of his mouth and up his cheek, dancing across his stubble.

"I know that you'll love what we're about to see."

"I know I'll love what we should be about to do even more." Caroline hummed against his neck, the buzz making his eyes close as a delicious warmth spread over him. He growled lowly in his throat as she nipped playfully at his neck, and Caroline was abruptly pinned against the wall. She smiled, craning forward to kiss Klaus, but he smiled and leaned back slightly.

"Perhaps later, love. You wont get me to give in and lose the deal so easily."

Regretfully, Klaus eased back from where he pressed against her, and offered his arm. She huffed, but wound her arm through his, and they continued onwards to a large building.

"Alright, I'm curious." Caroline commented as they were seated in the stalls in what looked like a converted ballroom. The floor was not marble, rather it was covered in dirt. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling and intricate molds decorated the walls and ceiling.

"I'm glad I've intrigued you." He said, watching her take in the whole room. "Any idea where we are now?"

"Absolutely none."

"Good."

She sighed. "I'm never going to be aware of anything on this trip, am I?"

Klaus grinned evilly. "Oh, I'm going to make sure you are aware of several things on this trip. Several nights, to be exact. In fact, potentially every single night. And quite a few mornings and afternoons, I suppose."

Caroline's eyes darkened, and she crossed her legs slowly, leaning towards him. He inched closer to her, his eyes travelled slowly up the sleek line of her legs like she knew they would. When they reached her face, she licked her lips and smiled.

"If I don't have some knowledge about places and events on this trip," She murmured huskily. "I will make sure that you don't have any knowledge of nights in my bedroom."

Klaus chuckled, sitting back. "Suit yourself, love. You can deny yourself for as long as you want. I'll just have to find other ways to amuse myself." He glanced around towards the other groups of people who were being seated. "She looks rather tasty, don't you think?" He commented as a curvaceous brunette sat down a few seats across. She noticed the couples attention almost immediately and flashed a smile, preening.

"I think she likes me." Klaus remarked wryly, noticing the withering glare Caroline sent towards the girl in question while her hand draped over Klaus' knee.

"A little protective, aren't we love?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said shortly, but a suggestive smile crept onto her face. "I'm only trying to make the lovely blonde over there feel jealous and tempted."

Klaus suddenly noticed the man she had turned her attention towards, a handsome blonde who kept glancing over at them, paying particular notice towards Caroline's legs.

"Do I need to compel you to keep your eyes on me? Because every man in the hall will become far too encouraged if you so much as glance in their general direction." Despite his joking tone, his voice had become a low growl, and Caroline made smoothing circles where her hand still rested on his leg.

"Down, boy. There's a good dog." She teased.

He didn't appreciate the dog reference, but paid no attention to it, as he suddenly became aware of her hand innocently moving further up his thigh.

"Caroline…" His voice came out with a husky undertone.

"Yes, Niklaus?"

"Unless you want our first time together to be in a hall full of upper class people, you should cease those movements."

"What movements? Oh, you mean this?" Caroline asked, her hand continuing to move.

"Caroline…" Klaus' voice could not get any darker. He twinned his hand around Caroline's and pressed a kiss to her knuckles, his eyes dark and seductive as they gazed up to meet hers. "I know you don't know the difference between sex and making love, that you classify it all as fucking, but when I get you into bed, I'll show you that my way can be as fast or slow as you like, only it is done with passion. That is the difference between fucking and making love, between good sex and fantastic sex."

Caroline's breaths turned into pants, and her heartbeat raced clumsily.

The lights dimmed, and Caroline's attention was torn from Klaus to the white stallions that entered the hall, or more correctly, stadium.

"The Viennese dancing horses?" She breathed, and Klaus smiled at the delighted look upon her face.

"More correctly called the Lipizzaner stallions, but yes. I thought you would enjoy it."

"Thank you." She beamed, her focus completely trained on the horses that proceeded to move beautifully across the ground.

Klaus could see that Caroline would be completely enthralled for the next eighty minutes, but he didn't care. She was enjoying herself, and he was enjoying her too.


	12. Good Morning To You

"Good morning." Rebekah said cheerfully as she walked into the room.

Klaus was not as chipper. "Hello, Rebekah." He said in a monotone.

Rebekah looked at Caroline, who sat at the table with coffee and some fresh fruit, courtesy of room service. "What did I miss?"

"Rough night. Long story." Despite her words, Caroline hid a small smile and a slight blush behind her coffee cup.

Rebekah knew there would be a good story behind this. "What happened?"

"Ask our dear brother." Klaus huffed, brightening slightly when Caroline flashed a reassuring smile his way.

"What are we asking me about?" Kol questioned, shuffling into the room in a t-shirt and sweatpants, yawning.

Klaus' slightly lifted mood plummeted again. "You know exactly what."

"What happened last night?" Rebekah asked, looking between the three of them. Klaus looked murderous, Kol looked smug, Caroline looked into her coffee.

"You might not have been aware since you were out last night, and I wont even ask what you were doing, but when Caroline and I arrived home – " Klaus was cut off by Kol guffawing.

"And Caroline was moaning away to the high heavens."

"Kol here decided it would be a wonderful thing to interrupt us and tell us to shut it so he could get some sleep." Klaus' glare could have melted iron, gold, skin and bone.

"And did you shut it? No." Kol said, going to pour himself a large cup of coffee.

"So what did you do? You proceeded to sit in the room and make it awkward until Caroline went to sleep on the couch." Klaus' voice began to rise in volume.

"Only because the two of you started to fight the way you are right now." Caroline interjected, a frown now gracing her face as Kol went to sit down and Klaus tore the chair out from underneath him. "Which is why we're moving on to the next city today." Caroline continued, looking at Rebekah with frustration.

Rebekah understood her agitation, but she was not looking forward to the loss of the only girl she had on her side in her brother battle. "Really? Must you?"

Caroline sighed. "Sorry, Beks, but I might go insane if they fight one more time, and believe it or not, I like Nik and I want to be able to spend a little time with him without Kol's cockblocking, because its not funny anymore." She shot at the grinning young Mikaelson who was trapped under Klaus' foot on the floor.

Rebekah wrinkled her nose at the thought of her brother and Caroline – it was not something any sibling ever wanted to imagine – but she understood that the two of them should have some alone time, particularly since they had only just started to come to terms on the same playing field. It would hopefully make them a lot more bearable when she saw them next.

"Fine. But I really hope we'll see you soon. I don't like travelling alone, and its not going to be anywhere near as fun with Kol or Elijah." She sighed and shot a look at Kol. "You and I are going to have a talk about family in the next room while we pack right now. Capiche?"

Kol dutifully followed his sister into the next room. He knew better than to disobey Rebekah when she had that same scary look in her eyes that she learnt from Niklaus and their mother.

Klaus let the dark look pass from his face as soon as his siblings left the room.. "So, its Nik now, is it?"

Caroline sipped her coffee. "Only when I'm feeling generous."

"Ah. So that's what, once every year?" He grinned as she lashed out her hand to playfully tap him, and he caught it, pulling her up to him easily. She smiled up at him with equal ease.

"So where are we going?"

Klaus inhaled and paused, causing him to grin when Caroline pouted.

"You promised, Niklaus."

"Alright. We're going to Paris."

The blonde brightened instantly. "Really?"

"Truly."

"That's incredible!" Despite their current challenge on who could hold out the longest, Caroline pressed her lips to his, wanting to show just how happy she was. He held her close, the fingers of one hand twining through her sunshine hair, capturing her bottom lip between his and swallowing the sighing sound she made.

"We'll have to pack, then." She broke away, but Klaus pulled her mouth back to his, not willing to let her go so easily, his hands stroking down her arms and wrapping around her waist.

"And Kol wont be pleased to know we're doing this again." She murmured in between tiny gasps as Klaus moved to suck at her neck.

"You really want to talk about my brother at a time like this?" He chuckled into the column of her throat.

"No," Caroline said, tugging his head up so she could kiss him again, biting his lip so he hummed. He pressed his legs against hers, moving her backwards till she was trapped against the table. She one-upped him by hopping up to sit on the table and wrapping her legs around him, bringing him closer. Klaus made a noise of surprise in the back of his throat, but smiled into the kiss, towering over her, making her lean back and lie down on the table.

"Ah, teaspoon, in my back," Caroline gasped between pushes and pulls of their lips, her hand searching for the cutlery digging into her back, flinging it across the room.

She laughed into the kiss, her hands wandering down Klaus' back and tugging at his shirt so she could feel the muscles and skin beneath her fingers. His own hands moved under her shirt and around the lower section of her ribs, making her gasp and giggle.

"Are you ticklish, Caroline?" Klaus grinned, brushing his hands softly across her navel. She wriggled, accidently grinding against his hips while she tried to avoid his fingers, and he pressed closer to her with a groan.

"I might be," She murmured, kissing him as he continued to tickle her and press into her body, trapping her against the table while she squirmed with a mix of laughter and desire. It made her smile, and made him smile, and their kisses gave way to chuckles as they pressed their foreheads together, unable to use their mouths at that moment for anything but grinning.

"Do you mind? We eat from that table." Rebekah's voice was the one to cut through and disrupt them this time, though she also had a funny smile on her face, torn between not wanting to see her brother in any intimate position, yet also wanting to see his happiness.

"Well we'll make it easier for you all. Our flight is in a few hours, so we should head out soon." Klaus lifted Caroline down from the table, but she didn't move away.

"Flight?" She gulped.

He smiled, tucking a wayward curl behind her ear. "You'll be fine."

"Yeah, sure." She replied, her voice climbing slightly.

Klaus nodded reassuringly, and let Caroline walk past him to her room to pack away her things. It took next to no time. She checked her phone, not expecting any calls, and remembered the one person she needed to talk to the most who she hadn't heard from, and with good reason she supposed. She dialed the familiar number, and waited.

"Hello?"

The very word with that familiar voice made her breath stutter in her chest.

"Hi Mom," Caroline said brightly, phone pressed tightly to her ear to catch every sound the Sheriff made. Despite everything, she loved her mother dearly and had missed her.

"Caroline," Liz had never been one for pet names, but anyone could hear the relief and happiness in her voice as she spoke to her daughter. "I would have called, but I knew you couldn't and I shouldn't. Not after I told you to run. You had bigger things to worry about. How are you? How's Tyler?"

Caroline bit her lip. "Tyler is Tyler." She sidestepped, "And I'm fine." More than fine, she thought. "How's Mystic Falls?"

"We've had a bit of trouble, but nothing we can't handle. We'd be better if you could be here." She paused, and Caroline could just imagine her mom grappling to say the words. "I'd be better if you could be here."

Caroline smiled. "I miss you too, Mom."

She sensed rather than heard Klaus lean against the doorframe, and she turned to see him watching her with soft eyes.

"Listen, Mom, I've got to run, but take care of yourself and I'll be in touch when I can, okay?"

"Sure. And Caroline?"

"Yeah?"

"Take care. Stay safe." A pause. "Love you."

Caroline swallowed against the lump starting to form in her throat. "Love you too." She hung up and sighed.

"How is your mother?" Klaus enquired politely.

"She's okay. That's the best I can hope for."

"You miss her." He noted.

Caroline looked at him through eyes that showed years of knowledge that surpassed her age. "I'll get used to it. I'll have to." She exhaled again before composing herself, thankful in a way that he left her to be strong on her own in regards to something that didn't fully involve him. "Ready to leave?"

Klaus nodded. "Its time. Lets go."

The four of them checked out and drove to the airport. Kol and Rebekah's flight wouldn't leave for another few hours, and despite the faces they put up, Caroline could tell the two Original vampires would miss their company. She wondered at how the Mikaelson family had managed to still love each other despite everything they had gone through for the last millennium, but she supposed that perhaps that was how they had become so snarky and crazy and still loving.

Rebekah had never been one for goodbyes, so she just pulled Caroline into a bone-crushing hug.

"If I don't see you sometime in the near future, I'll kidnap you, okay bitch?"

"I'm sure your brother wont mind." Caroline laughed softly, not allowing Rebekah to see her smile when she eventually pulled away.

"Don't forget to use the power of the underwear." Rebekah said with a sly smile.

"When did this happen and how come I wasn't invited?" Kol interrupted, and Klaus whacked him across the back of the head.

Caroline rolled her eyes but still pulled Kol in for a hug. Naturally he made use of it to irritate Klaus, but she could tell Kol appreciated the gesture for more than the ammunition it gave him against his brother. When she pulled away to see the siblings eyeing each other, tossing up whether to be snarky or say a proper goodbye, she decided to make it easier.

"I'll be over in the book shop."

Klaus gave her a quizzical look, knowing that she had started routinely stealing his books.

"Travel books." Caroline nodded sternly at him. "Don't think I've forgotten the promise that I could choose and organise somewhere to go."

Kol smirked. "My brother actually allowing someone else to have control? What have you done, Caroline?"

Klaus clenched his jaw, and Caroline shook her head, but it was with a hint of fondness.

"Stay out of trouble, you two. See you later." She smiled and walked off.

Klaus watched her leave, ignoring the sinking feeling in his heart. He didn't like seeing her walk away from him, but at least he knew that she wanted to be here now. She wanted to be here with him. Smiling slightly, he turned back to his siblings, only to find them smiling at him.

What random looking-glass alternate reality had he fallen into?

"I like her, Nik." Kol said. "If it doesn't work out, I call dibs. Hope you understand."

"You lay so much as a finger on her in that manner and I will break every bone in your body. Slowly."

"Much as I love to hear you two get violent," Rebekah interrupted sarcastically. "Niklaus has a plane to catch."

Kol and Klaus eyed each other warily before clasping one another in a wary, quick hug.

"Take care, brother."

"You too. And I'll take care of Rebekah."

"Hey, I'm not a baby, you know." Rebekah huffed, and the two brothers chuckled. Klaus turned to Rebekah and raised his eyebrows. She looked back at him with a strangely honest expression.

"Somehow I get the feeling I wont be seeing you for a long time unless I do something." Rebekah said in one of her rare moments of sincerity.

"One week, little sister." Klaus promised. "You'll see us in one week at the villa."

"I'll hold you to that. Don't make us hunt you down again, Nik." She smiled, hugging him briefly. Klaus had never been known for much contact. "Keep in touch when you're not too busy shagging Caroline."

Klaus smirked, slightly proud of the fact that he was getting closer to Caroline, to the point that they could be intimate that way. His need for her had been growing past the point of being a mere conquest, and while that startled and scared him, he was happy. He tutted to himself at the thought of the mere word 'happy', and, with one last glance to his family, went to find Caroline in the book shop.

They had a plane to catch.


	13. Paris, Je T'Aime

Paris.

Caroline had dreamed about being in the City of Light and Love ever since she had seen Anastasia and Funny Face screened at the 100 seat cinema in Mystic Falls.

The city seemed so picturesque as they made their descent in the plane, and Klaus watched Caroline take in the sight, keeping their fingers interlocked loosely from where her hand had wound through his during a bout of turbulance. She was so distracted by seeing the Eifel Tower in the distant city haze ("Wow, Nik, this is wonderful.") that her grip was soft rather than clenching, and she forgot about the plane still being airborn until they landed with a slight bump.

Caroline glanced around. "Oh,"

Klaus chuckled under his breath, causing her to huff with exasperation at him. He lifted their entwined hands and kissed each of her slim fingers.

"Welcome to Paris."

They kept their hands linked even if it was difficult to work around, not willing to let the other go. Caroline secretly wondered if Klaus would even be capable of doing something so normal as handholding. She couldn't picture strolling down the street hand in hand with the biggest monster in the world. She couldn't picture strolling down the street hand in hand with a seductive man like Klaus.

"Love?"

Caroline was brought back to the image of Klaus looking at her expectantly, a wry smile on his face.

"Sorry?"

"I was just asking if you'd prefer to take a car or catch the train."

She raised her eyebrows. "Really? An Original wants to take the subway?"

"I find it fascinating." Klaus admitted. "And it's the easiest way to get to the apartment."

Caroline started walking towards the escalators with the train symbol hung above them, but stopped.

"Hold up. Apartment?"

"Yes."

"You own an apartment in Paris."

"It was an investment." He shrugged with a hint of an egotistical smile, pulling her forwards with him again.

The train was too much to navigate with hands clasped, and the pair had to reluctantly let go to maneuver their bags onto the train. Though there were a few scattered seats, they opted to stand together near the closed doors.

Caroline had never been on a moving, standing public transport train, and she lurched with every sudden stop.

Klaus chuckled slightly, smoothly wrapping his arm around her waist to anchor her against him. Caroline was startled by his suave move, but also pleased, and slowly leaned into his embrace, resting her head on his shoulder like it was the most natural thing in the world. And it really felt like it. She was so happy there in that moment.

Caroline was especially in favor of future train trips when a sudden halt brought her against Klaus' chest, trapping him between the wall and her soft form. He made a noise of contentment in the back of his throat that was far from soothing or peaceful, looking down at her through dark eyes that made her head swim.

"Sorry," She murmured, but didn't move away, her fingers fiddling with the collar of his jacket where her hands had flown up to balance herself.

"I'm not." He replied, holding her closer, ignoring the looks from some of the older travelers. It was Paris. Deal with it.

"So where is the apartment again?" Caroline asked, her heart leaping into her throat as Klaus' hands softly ran over the sliver of skin that had been revealed with the combined movement of her stumble and her lifted arms.

"Are you that eager to get me alone?" He asked with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"Perhaps," She looked up at him through her long lashes, and felt his own heartbeat start to pick up under her palm. He leaned forward to capture her lips, but she turned her head at the last second and kissed the corner of his mouth. Klaus pulled back, intent on correcting and capturing her lips, but Caroline did the same to the other side of his mouth, which started to rise in a smile. He waited this time for her to make a move, and she did the same as before, aiming for his mouth but lowering at the last second to brush her lips along his stubble covered jawline.

When she drew back, Klaus was certain that she would just revert back to smiling at him, but Caroline, as usual, surprised him. She rose up to press hungrily against his lips, to which he responded instantly with equal passion, thrilled at the sudden rush her fierce kiss brought him.

Caroline was happy to initiate, but she also loved how he took control. There was certainly something to be said for a thousand years to perfect kissing. She was slightly worried about the fact that she had a limited experience in comparison, but his response was enough to make her not worry for the moment. Particularly when she ran her fingers through his hair, tugging on the curls at the nape of his neck, and he rumbled lowly in the back of his throat.

"We should stop." Klaus panted, and she wanted to, really she did, because she could tell that now would not be a good time to start grinding against him like she wanted to, particularly with the half full train carriage very aware of the couple and their movements.

But she also didn't. She really didn't want to.

Caroline tugged his head down to hers again, moving against his body in a way that made him respond instantly, his hands slide under her shirt at the back to press her firmly against him. She sighed happily, and he bit down slightly on her tongue, making her gasp. But he still had enough oxygen and enough of his wits about him to not completely lose control.

"Sweetheart," He growled, pulling back. "Not here."

"Why?" Caroline frowned, her fingers still scratching softly at the nape of his neck, hips pressed squarely against his.

He groaned quietly, but shook his head. "Not on a train."

"I don't care."

"I know you don't, love, and that's what's making this difficult." Klaus exhaled slowly through his nose, his hands now back on her hips, no longer against her skin. He looked at her like she was precious and tempting and everything in his world gone right. "You deserve to be worshiped in a good bed after being tempted and treated properly, not quickly done in the woods or a cellar."

Caroline was touched by his words, but it didn't sate the warm feeling in her abdomen. "It'd make it a hell of a lot easier." She huffed, but touched her forehead against his. "But I'll accept your terms, on one condition."

"What's that?"

"Deal is over. I don't care if I lose because its really a win. So long as it happens. Tonight."

…

"Wow,"

"Its not much, but it's a home."

"Well that's the understatement of the century." Caroline scoffed, walking through the double doors. The Mikaelson's French apartment was colossal and magnificent. The hall by the front door continued on to an open living area in colours of rich cream and buttery yellow, contrasting with the dark hardwood floors. As she walked into this very expensive dreaming world she had stumbled upon, more was revealed. An archway to the right showed a gleaming kitchen with black marble counters. Another door led to what appeared to be a study full of leather-bound books and gentleman's armchairs. To the left was the room she had secretly been anticipating the most. Here, the floorboards gave way to plush dark carpet that only made the dark cherry wood frame of the bed and the cream white covers stand out. The bed looked sturdy and inviting, and Caroline wondered if she really needed to see all of Paris today, whether she could just see all of Klaus instead.

She shook her head, knowing how much better it would be to wait (even if she had been waiting for far too long already) and simply turned to look at Klaus, who had not even looked once at the incredible surroundings and had instead watched her take it all in.

"Just wait," He said cryptically, walking over to the floor length windows and opening a door there that led outside to a grey stone balcony. Caroline followed eagerly, drinking in the sight of all of Paris before them, soaked in sun.

"I was hoping for that reaction." Klaus said as the young vampire beamed and took in the view with wide eyes. She turned and jumped on him unexpectedly, and he forgot to respond for a micro moment before his arms wound around her in turn. "This reaction, however, is much more than I could have hoped for."

"Its amazing. Thank you, Niklaus." Caroline said gratefully, pulling back slightly to look him in the eye and say it properly. He gave a warm smile back, an honest smile that showed his dimples, and she pressed a peck of a kiss to one before dashing off out of his reach.

"Come on, I thought you were going to show me the world. Lets get started."

Her enthusiasm was contagious. Klaus followed after her as she left the bags by the door and went to the lift.

"I'll be frank, love, I didn't plan any real sightseeing today."

"Only focusing on getting me into bed, hmm?" She said, a teasing lilt to her voice and mouth.

"Naturally." He purred into her ear, his hands resting on her hips.  
Caroline smiled quietly, walking them forwards into the lift once it arrived.

"Well then if you didn't plan anything, we can just go for a walk."

"Good. I feel like it would be dangerous for us to stay together alone in the apartment."

"Shame. I like that kind of danger. Maybe we shouldn't be leaving."

Klaus pressed the button for the ground floor, ensuring that the lift doors closed.

Caroline turned to look at him with a slight comic frown. "Should I take that as an insult that you don't want to be alone with me and a bed?"

"Yes, sweetheart. In truth, I actually find you repulsive." He gave her a look to ensure that she could tell he was far from serious.

"Oh you are so charming." She said woodenly, raising her eyebrow and folding her arms.

"You look enchanting when you're put out." Klaus chuckled, pressing his lips to the wrinkle between her brows, instantly smoothing it. "No, love, I merely have the old-fashioned idea that I should court you properly and bed you just the same."

"Somehow I cant put the evil hybrid who terrorized Mystic Falls with the gentlemanly idea of 'courting' someone." Caroline exhaled, knowing she should be a little more worried at the control he had over her emotions.

"Don't worry, I'm sure I'll do something to remind you sooner or later." He drawled with only a hint of sarcasm.

Before she could question him further, the lift doors opened and they walked through the foyer to the light streets, the weather bringing about a brighter mood.

"There is a quaint park nearby." Klaus said, and Caroline held back a laugh.

"A 'quaint' park?"

"Yes." He said with a slight scowl at her mocking, and she bit her lip to hold back her giggle.

"Alright."

They set out, Klaus immediately moving so he was walking on the street side of the pavement as usual. Caroline shuffled back so she could swap sides, just to tease him, and he corrected her swiftly so he was the closest to the traffic. When she did it a second time, he shocked her by grabbing her around the waist and tugged her to him, lifting her off the ground as he swung her in a circle, eventually placing her on the building side of the pavement. She laughed the whole way.

When they reached the park, Caroline realized why they had come here. Parisians sprawled in groups and couples across at least half of the lawn, soaking up the afternoon sunshine. It seemed like the main activity of the afternoon.

The pair found a secluded patch under one of the trees, and Klaus shed his jacket and lay it out for them to rest upon.

"Have you always been so old school?" Caroline asked as they sat, leaning against the trunk of the tree.

"Sweetheart, remember who you're asking." Klaus said.

"Right, of course, you invented old school." She teased, and he nodded, eyes closed. "What else have you done? What else have you seen?"

"You really want to know?" He asked, his tone dark, and Caroline was reminded of who she was asking. But she wanted to know him, all of him, not just the gentleman she had started to become accustom to. If it was too much, if she couldn't handle it, she'd rather find out now before…before she was in way too deep. Because she could feel that happening. She could feel it in the way that she enjoyed being around him, and the way she watched him, and how he dominated her thoughts, and how she wanted to share everything with him. If he was faking it all now, she would rather know as soon as possible. She'd rather know if the person she had started to get to know was real or fake, or just another side of Niklaus Mikaelson.

The man in question cracked an eye open to glance at her sideways. "What do you want to know?"

"Anything you'd care to tell me." Caroline answered truthfully, naively.

Klaus breathed out. "How much time do you have?"

She shook her head, waiting for him to start.

"Who have I met? I've met kings, queens, artists, geniuses, saints. I met the Kennedy's, met Lincoln, knew Einstein –"

"Anything more specific?"

He turned his head fully to look at her with a cheeky smile on his face. "I seduced Mozart's sister. He wasn't too pleased about that. It prompted him to write Don Giovanni. You can guess the inspiration for the lead role."

"Really?"

"Truly. Mozart was protective, but Don Giovanni brought him great success, so I suppose he should have been thankful."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "I don't know if I should be impressed or disgusted."

"Both." Klaus said, and she scoffed. "Caroline, I've walked the earth for a thousand years. Now, I wasn't exactly focused on women like Kol, but I didn't turn into a monk."

"Then what was the first priority, the desire or the bloodlust?"

"Definitely the bloodlust." He said with dark, hungry eyes, and she looked down to her lap, cheeks warm. Klaus chuckled, moving to lie on the grass. His head ended up resting uncomfortably on Caroline's outstretched legs, and she rolled her eyes once more, but moved and prompted him over to rest his head in her lap. When he had settled comfortably, the smug look on his face made her scowl lightly at him.

"You planned that, didn't you."

The way his mouth was formed should have told her that she was falling into a trap. But as always, she couldn't help herself.

"Not quite. Though I will admit, this is one of my favorite positions in regards to bloodlust. There is a very nice pulse point here." He tilted his head slightly towards her inner thighs, and Caroline blushed hotly, her fingers threading through his hair just to hold his head in place. Despite all her experience, no man had done anything like what he was suggesting, all too busy to get to the main meal of sex.

"What is it, sweetheart?" Klaus asked all too innocently, and she was tempted to shove him away from her lap, but she couldn't bring herself to do that.

"You know exactly what." She muttered, combing her fingers through his hair to distract herself. It worked on him too, as she saw his eyes flutter closed, clearly unaccustomed to the soothing movement.

"Any other tales?" Caroline asked after a moment, her hands still running through his hair slowly and softly.

"Hmm?" Klaus hummed, his eyes still closed. "Tales, well, not too many of much note. Everything runs together after a while, one war after the next, plagues, famines."

"What about things that you've done along those lines?" She asked quietly, knowing that the answer would most likely shock her even if she prepared for the worst.

"Ah." He exhaled. "I spent most of my life looking for the doppelganger, avoiding Mikael, and terrorizing witches and vampires to get what I wanted. I killed people." His eyes flashed open to bore into hers. "I'm heartless. I'm not a good person, Caroline. But you know that already."

"I do." She nodded gently.

"And yet you stay."

"Yes."

"Why?"

Caroline inhaled a slow breath. "Because I just do."

His eyes hadn't left hers, and they suddenly seemed to be more open, more honest, more heartfelt, more pleading. Pleading?

"You know that now Elena is no longer a doppelganger and I am what I was meant to be a thousand years ago, I wont be searching for a way to end the curse. But that doesn't mean I'm about to turn into a docile puppy. I am what I am, and I'm still going to be a killer."

The words were harsh, but she understood the meaning. He was still going to be who he was, and she could either accept that or not. That little problem could be a dark cloud hanging over them forever. But she understood it in a way, how it wasn't only in his nature to be dark, but it was also expected of him. He was the ultimate bad guy, and yet she brought out this soft, sweet, caring, charming side to him. Yet that was all for her, only for her. And she couldn't deny that the light part of her was attracted to the darkness of him, and vice versa. If she wouldn't get hurt, and she wanted to stay by his side, then why shouldn't she? And if she had an opportunity to bring him back from the harshest damage he could do, why shouldn't she? But if he had enough reason to kill, why shouldn't he as well? She knew it wasn't good, that those thoughts were the darkest she had ever had, but she understood him that way, and she wasn't about to let him go over that. All of that was worth it. He was worth that darkness.

"I understand." She murmured, hoping he could read it in her eyes, that she felt that what had started between them had suddenly become worth it.

Klaus didn't say anything, but she heard his breath leave his lungs with a slight shake, and he closed his eyes again as she continued to stroke his hair.

Caroline raised her head to catch the suns rays on her face, knowing that if her friends saw her now she could never be forgiven. But despite everything she had shared with them, she felt it was time to move on. It was time to let Mystic Falls go. She loved them all dearly, but she didn't need to feel guilty for doing something for herself for once in her life. She had never been this strong and sure of herself, and she had never felt something to be so right before. It felt right. It felt like eternity would be pleasant like this, and even if it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, she could learn to love it. Life wasn't meant to be peachy, and an eternity without passion and disagreements and making up would be boring. Eternity with Klaus would be far from boring. It would be right.

Caroline was broken from her musings by Klaus as he moved in her lap, turning his head to settle into another comfortable position. In the process, he nuzzled into her thigh, and she felt a jolt run through her at the feeling.

"Nik…" Whatever the sound was that escaped her managed to get caught in her throat, further distorting the breathless word. Klaus looked up, only half aware of what his movement had done, but a devilish grin appeared on his face.

"Problem, love?"

Caroline watched him through her heavy eyes as he stroked the outside of her leg soothingly with his artists fingers, a feeling akin to electricity dancing just under her skin with every touch.

"Feeling a little sensitive?" Klaus rose on his knees to lean over her and kiss a path up her neck. Caroline arched towards him, but he pulled away.

She changed their positions abruptly so he was the one against the tree and she straddled his lap. His teasing look was replaced by one of delight as Caroline leant over him, her blonde curls creating a private curtain to shelter them both.

His responding kiss was much more gentle than she had been expecting, and she realized it was because she had only ever associated passion and hunger with him. While those both still rang true, she had failed to connect those with the reverential way he held her now, the way he kissed her with the soft undertone of the heart he still declared he didn't have. His lips roved so gently over hers, almost to the point that she couldn't differentiate between the tender press of his mouth on hers and the shivers the action brought her in between each kiss. He eventually slowed, opening his ocean eyes to gaze into her own sky blues.

"Are you cold, love?" He murmured, and Caroline realized he mustn't have known the reason for her tingling shivers, blaming it on the sun that had shifted so that they were in shade.

"Yeah," She agreed, for she was nowhere near ready to tell him the real reason behind her reaction.

"We should probably get going, then." Klaus said, reluctantly moving away slightly and helping her stand with him.

"I thought you didn't plan any sightseeing today?" She noted suspiciously.

"Not sightseeing," He admitted with a sly smile. "But we do have dinner reservations to get to."

...

Klaus, as usual, gave Caroline the perfect amount of time alone to get ready. She was just smoothing her dress down in the mirror when he appeared behind her, smoothing her hair away from one shoulder and pressing a kiss to her bare skin.

"Genuine beauty." He murmured against her collarbone as he trailed his mouth up her neck, and little fireworks exploded in her stomach. Genuine beauty. Those words would always mean more to her than he would know. She had never been called a genuine beauty, and the phrase just held so much more weight and truth than any other compliment she had been paid before.

"Red suits you." He said, his gaze burning her even as it was reflected in the mirror. She took a breath to prepare herself before she turned around to face him in all of his suit-covered glory – why did men look so delicious in suits? And why in particular did Klaus look devastatingly handsome? – and smiled.

"Thank you." Despite her heels, she still had to look up to meet his eyes, and it did nothing to help the heady feeling she already had around him. Particularly with the knowledge that in a few hours they would be back here…in this room…on that bed…

Caroline swallowed, and Klaus smirked as if he knew the dirty thoughts in her mind.

"So where are we going?" She asked, walking confidently out of the bedroom –

And freezing when she saw the beautiful sight on the balcony.

"When I said dinner reservations," Klaus said behind her, placing a hand on the small of her back to guide her forward. "I meant here."

"Oh my God." Caroline murmured, stepping out into the pleasant star washed night on a balcony lit with dozens of flickering, warm candles, the buildings of Paris washed in the same yellowy light. A table set for two awaited them, and Klaus pulled out a chair for Caroline.

"Why here?"

"Couldn't think of a better view, much easier to cater to the more vampiric needs," Klaus motioned towards the dark red liquid already poured in their glasses. "Courtesy of Paris' blood bank," He sat down across from her. "And I couldn't think of a better place than one we would be sure to revisit." His gaze was soft but focused, and Caroline felt her heart skip a beat, literally skip a stupid beat. It was cliché and pathetically wonderful, and she loved it all.

"This is incredible." She said, making him smile.

Dinner was served by a chef that Klaus informed her had been hired by his family for a few decades, one of the few staff they kept on personal call who had only been compelled to not ever repeat who the Originals really were. The food was heavenly, yet Caroline found she could not pay it the adequate amount of attention while Klaus sat across from her. She happily sipped at her wine and blood glasses alternatively, hoping either the alcohol or the B+ would calm her nerves, but neither liquid seemed to help.

Finally, finally, Klaus excused himself to go dismiss the chef and pay him for the evening, and Caroline let out a breath once he was back inside, downing both of her remaining glasses and walking to stand by the stone ledge of the balcony, looking at all of Paris before her. The night couldn't have been more perfect. They had talked of everything under the sun, the setting couldn't have been more romantic. If she could just shake the nervous feeling gathering in her stomach she would be fine. Why was she nervous? She knew. She was worried about losing him. If she had more will power, she would easily hold out against his charms. Caroline had never thought she would even feel anything remotely akin to this, but she didn't want to lose Klaus. She didn't want him to leave her. That was why it had been easy to reject him and leave him at the start, because then he could never leave her if she was the one to push him away and leave first.

And now she didn't want to, and she was so afraid he would instead.

Caroline gasped quietly as strong arms encircled her waist, a stubbled chin grazing along her shoulder light enough to send shivers.

"Stunning, isn't it?" Klaus murmured as they took in the twinkling glow of Paris.

"Its wonderful." Caroline said, turning to face him. "Thank you. Everything has been perfect." She smiled at him, trying to convey her gratitude without admitting to her fear.

He stroked her cheek with a feather light caress. "Its all for you, love." Klaus said gently. "Not anyone else. Never anyone else. Its you."

His words unlocked something inside her, the realization that this was completely new for him too, that he didn't want to lose her. Caroline's fear disappeared into the balmy night.

She inched closer to him till they were pressed together, never once looking away from his mesmerizing eyes. Her lips parted though she had no idea of what to say, and she knew she didn't need to say a word.

Klaus kissed her, first softly, tentatively, then pressing harder as he knew that she wouldn't go, that she was here to stay and so was he. She clung to him like her very existence depended on it, like she needed to find a way to tether her soul to his through pushes and pulls of their lips.

"Caroline," Klaus grated from the back of his throat, smoothing her hair back from her face, needing to see the agreement for certain in her eyes.

"Yes, Niklaus," Caroline sighed, nodding,

"Are you sure? Because you need to know that if you mean it, love, I'm not sure I'll be able to let you go easily after tonight." His eyes were filled with the purest feeling she had ever seen, something that could not be labeled to one emotion alone. She nodded again, unable to express words to someone who looked at her like that, like no one else ever had, a cross between amazement, adoration and fear that she would suddenly vanish without a trace from between his two arms.

"Sweetheart," Klaus hummed, his lips hungry and demanding now, and she readily gave in.

He kissed her slowly, passionately, cupping her face so carefully, and it made her burn to the core, but she couldn't handle it. She tugged at the lapels of his jacket, pressing him closer, smoothing her hands over his pristine white shirt. His hands glided down her neck, her shoulders, brushing past her arms to graze down her ribs, eliciting shivers.

Caroline moved them almost blindly, too caught up in the feeling of his mouth on hers and his hands on her skin to pay attention to where they were going. Klaus made her task easier by sliding his hands under her thighs and lifting her to rest against his hips, carrying them into the apartment and through to the bedroom that she had been aiming for.

She had enough sense of mind still to let her shoes drop from her interlocked feet as they passed by the doorway, a soft thump meeting their ears as they fell to the carpet. He set her down on the bed, and she didn't let him leave any distance between them, pulling him down with her as she lay back. Their bodies pressed tightly together, moving in sync with equal pleasure and frustration as their clothes hindered their movements.

"That's the downside, love, you have to allow some space to take off clothes." Klaus murmured into her neck as she grappled with the buttons of his shirt with one hand while impatiently lifting it to reveal his torso with the other, all the while keeping him as close as possible.

"We should have thought about that beforehand, and gone to dinner naked." She chuckled into his hair, and he purred his approval against her pulse point, making her arch breathlessly against him as the vibration of his deep voice danced along her skin. Her hands scrambled to pull his suit jacket and shirt off him in one go, and he managed to pull back slightly and shrug off the garments easily before she sat up to work on the buckle of his pants.

"Easy there, sweetheart, we haven't even started on your dress." Klaus said huskily, his hands gliding over the back of her dress to find the zipper as he simultaneously stepped out of his shoes.

Caroline kissed her way up his neck and traced her tongue around the outside of his ear. "You realize that we would already be skin against skin right now if you stopped spending so much time talking." She whispered.

Klaus had the audacity to grin. "This is what I need to teach you. Its not a race to see who can get naked first. You'll soon find out the pleasure of simply undressing together slowly." He smoothed her dress straps down her arms, letting the silk material whisper over her skin as he continued, stepping away from her to pull it over her hips and let it drop to the floor beneath her feet.

Caroline felt a blush rise to her cheeks as his eyes took in all of her body, her red lace lingerie and the smooth planes of skin that the dress had hidden. His eyes were so darkly bright, his lips red as he ran his tongue across them. He looked like he could ravish her. That was something new for Caroline. She had never been looked at like that. Damon had looked at her like she was a tall glass of water. Matt had never come this far with her. Tyler never took in her full form with his eyes, using his hands to convey his enthusiasm for her body.

Klaus was different. She felt him looking at her in a way that made her body, mind and soul feel beautiful, like he was taking her in on every level and he was both pleased and excited by what he saw.

It was completely overwhelming.

And then there was the matter of his own body. Klaus had a handsome face and charm enough to drop any womans panties, even if he did know it enough to be smug about it. It didn't help that he had also been blessed with a striking body too, all muscle and sinew and long limbs and leanness. And something that was trying very hard to break the confines of his pants.

Caroline pulled him back down to her, rolling them so she could straddle his waist and grind against him, prolonging his torment as well as hers. Klaus groaned into her mouth, sucking on her bottom lip with tender bites, and she rocked against him, knowing they were right to take their time but she wasn't certain she could handle anymore waiting, their hips pressed together with such a heat between them.

"Nik…I want…" She panted, and he responded with careful hands, artfully unhooking her bra and letting it slip from her shoulders before dropping to the floor. Caroline pressed her chest to his, self-conscious and wanting full contact with him. His stomach muscles contracted underneath her touch, and he flipped them swiftly again so she was lying beneath him, her hair spread out like a magnificent halo, eyes closed in bliss as his clever fingers stroked patterns across her limbs and delved between her breasts. Her own fingers found their way to his pants again, brushing against his manhood before pressing her hand more firmly against it, earning a sharp intake of breath from Klaus. She worked on his belt again, and this time he let her, watching as she went through the buckle, then the button, then the zipper, pausing for a second before tugging his pants off and raising her now midnight blue eyes to meet his again.

Klaus kissed her like he couldn't believe his good fortune that an angel had fallen into bed with him, like he wanted to drink her in, like he would never let her go. Caroline kissed him back with all of her pent up passion and attraction and desire that coursed through her body.

She bucked against him when she felt his hand graze along her inner thighs, back and forth, teasing and tempting around the edge of her panties. Finally he hooked his fingers around the sides of the red lace, pulling the garments off and over her legs.

Lying with her legs either side of the now very naked, very sexy, very divine Niklaus Mikaelson, Caroline felt completely stripped bare, wanting to cover herself for modesty. But Klaus' gaze burned every inch of her skin as he traced a finger from her hipbone up to her leaping pulse point.

"You are a genuine beauty, Miss Forbes." He said in a throaty, low, lovers voice. It made her simultaneously blush and crane up to press a searing kiss to his lips, and they fell back in bed together, welcome to become entangled.


	14. Fragile Heartbeats

Heartbeats in unison.

The feel of soft cotton sheets and smooth skin.

Warmth in patches.

A spiced, forest, rainstorm scent.

Steady puffs of breath tickling through hair.

A feeling of complete and utter contentment.

Caroline's eyes fluttered open to greet the late morning. Sun streamed in through the window, highlighting Paris' marvelous stone buildings. The light illuminated the room, stretching a path that just touched upon an object that was out of place: a red splash of dress that had been tossed to the floor. Caroline's eyes continued, moving to the dress shoe next to it, and the pants lying in a slight crumple nearby. Her bra lay innocently on top of the suit jacket with the white shirt still in the sleeves. She took a minute to spot her panties, finally spying them hooked around the top of the straightbacked desk chair. Each garment brought back vivid memories of the previous night, and Caroline turned to see the man responsible behind her in bed.

Klaus was fast asleep, looking as peaceful as he could possibly be in bed next to her. It took her a moment to fully wake up to how the pair were entwined between the sheets, with her ankle locked around his and his arm draped possessively across her hips, bent at the elbow to reach up and brush the skin covering her sternum in an intimate manner. Her own hand was flung slightly behind her and gently pressed against his neck, fingers touching the steady pulse point just above his collarbone.

Caroline noted how he held her even in slumber, cradling her so she was pressed against him, nothing keeping them apart, like she would be snatched or would leave at any moment if he left his guard down for too long. It was loving in a protective, domineering way, and it was just so Klaus, but she not only expected it, not only understood it: she liked it. She was beginning to feel special in his eyes, and it was such a beautiful new foreign feeling to be confident without doubt or forcing a smile. She could just be.

Klaus mumbled something incoherent, tightening his grip and pulling Caroline even closer to him so she rolled over. She used the movement to turn around properly and curl into his form, not wanting to wake him but knowing that she wouldn't be getting back to sleep anytime soon. The sheet had slipped down to show half of his chest, and she was reminded of the fact that the two of them were still very naked.

Last night.

Caroline flustered slightly, thankful that Klaus couldn't see her so school-girl-like. Last night was incredible. She had enjoyed sex as a human, had really enjoyed it as a vampire, but she had become explosive last night. That hadn't just been sex. It had felt like an art form. A really really amazing art form. And even though she felt so satisfied, she was nowhere near sated. In all honesty, Paris was nice, but she would have easily stayed in bed with Klaus all day.

She'd never thought she'd even think that. About Klaus in particular, but really about anyone.

Caroline traced her hand down his chest lightly, her touch not waking him. The late morning light revealed scars that she had either not seen or had been a little too preoccupied to see the night before. She stroked a soft finger over one that ran parallel to his right shoulder and collarbone, curious about the slight puckered mark. She leaned across him and dusted kisses along the scar, waking him up in the most pleasant way.

"Good morning,"

"Morning, sweetheart." He said with a voice still gruff from sleep. She pressed two soft kisses to his mouth before smiling down at him.

"I could get used to waking up like this." Klaus smiled, kissing her once more before running a hand through her curly bed hair. "Being caressed by a sunlit goddess who happens to be naked and ravished."

Caroline rolled her eyes, but lay back down into the soft pillows, stretching out like a cat. "I was only ravished last night. I may need to be ravished again." She looked at him expectantly, a playful smile gracing her features.

"Love, if you want something, you know the polite thing to do is ask for it." Klaus teased, his leg already between hers and his forearms going to brace himself on either side of her head so he was hovering over her.

"Please." She murmured, lips already tracing their way up his neck.

"Please what?" He responded, voice already dropping in timbre while his blunt teeth tugged on her earlobe.

"Please Ni-klaus." Caroline's words were punctuated by her gasp, as his hands found her curves once more and they fell back into their rhythm.

Later they lay in the re-rumpled bed, Caroline's hair splayed across Klaus' chest. He ran a lazy hand up and down her back, his thumbnail grazing along her vertebrae.

"Did you want to see Paris today?" He asked, and she hummed against his chest.

"Not actually. Way too comfortable."

Klaus grinned, thankful she couldn't see his face to witness his reaction. She was voluntarily here and wanted to stay, all of her own accord. It was just too much for him to comprehend, too much for him to have hoped for.

"I've never spent all day in bed." Caroline mused, before laughing under her breath. "I'd be willing to bet that you haven't either. Somehow I can't imagine you having a day off from your schemes and plans."

His hand twisted through her hair to lift her head to face him properly.

"You would be correct in that assumption, love. But I know what you're asking. No – I haven't spent the day in bed with a woman. And yes – I'd like to spend the day in bed with you."

Caroline beamed, as he hoped she would – it made something lift in his chest when he saw how that small action lit up her face. She rested her chin on his chest so he could continue to trace patterns on her back and also speak to her face to face.

"Well if we had somehow had the energy to leave the bed today, what would we have done?"

"It would have been sight seeing. All those lovely tourist things – The Arc de Triumph, Notre Dame, Eifel Tower, of course at least half a day in the Louvre,"

"Really? I was almost expecting something obscure."

He gave her a look. "Its Paris. Your first time in Paris. You need the full experience. Besides, we're here for a week."

"And then where?"

Klaus didn't respond for a moment, and Caroline raised her eyebrows.

"We made a deal."

"Italy."

"Perfect." Caroline breathed, and Klaus was pleased that he had clearly chosen the right destination. However, he could see she was planning something when she tilted her head.

"Anything planned after?"

"No, but I get a feeling that there will be, and I wont be the one organizing it." He said, watching her carefully.

"Yes, there will. And just to spite you, I wont tell you a thing. I'll plan it all myself." She frowned. "Alright, maybe with Rebekah's help."

"Well even so, by all means, plan ahead. The floor is yours." Klaus said, but gritted his teeth ever so slightly.

Caroline smirked. "Thank you. It can't be easy for the all-mighty Klaus to drop control for just one moment."

"Oh, it seemed to work in both our favors last night." He said smugly, flashing a grin when Caroline ducked her head down to his chest. "And earlier today." He added, holding her gaze as she lifted her head again to see his handsome – if smug – face.

"I'm fairly certain you had complete control over those situations, as well as other things."

"It takes two to tango, sweetheart."

They locked eyes, their searing blue to blue gaze both playful and intimate. Neither one of them was completely satisfied, the only answer to that satisfaction would be to continue on forever in bed, but it was more than that. There were many sides to their contentment, and the solution to all of those aspects seemed to be hidden within the others company.

"All this talk of tangos reminds me…" Caroline innocently traced her finger down his ribcage as her foot entwined between his. "What's the plan today, since we're far too tired to leave this bed?"

"Well, my dear," Klaus hummed. "As you've pointed out, I need to let go of control every now and then, so I'm at your command."

"Really?" The young vampire dropped the bedroom eye look, her entire face lighting up.

"Certainly."

"Good. Then I'd like to know your favorite painting, one you haven't done."

Now it was Klaus' turn to be surprised. "You have all the power in the world and happen to be naked and pressed against me…and you ask a question?"

She rolled her eyes. "That's a little egotistical, don't you think?"

"Its what I'm best known for. I haven't received any complaint."

"Yet." She poked her tongue out at his answering scowl. "And besides, I like to earn control sometimes. I'll use my own personal power when I feel like it."

Klaus' pout lifted slightly into a lilting smile, but Caroline refused to be distracted from her own question. He had an uncanny knack for that; he could dodge anything easily if given a little distraction.

"So. Painting?"

Klaus expelled a long gust of air from his lungs, making Caroline chuckle at the movement it caused her head.

"If I had to narrow it down to one off the top of my head, I would say Starry Night by Van Gogh. I know, its a typical decision, but I admire the man. He continued to do what he wanted to do regardless of what was conventional, and saw the world in a different way. Saw it for the rough beauty it held."

The fingers stroking along her back started to lag and become thoughtful, and Caroline knew it would be best to keep him talking about art, rather than dwelling on the past.

"Any other notable artworks? Ones I mightn't have heard of?"

Klaus smirked down at her, and she knew whatever he had to say next would be very intriguing.

"There is one, Woman with a Parrot, by a man named Gustave Courbet. I only note it because it wasn't until recently that they did an x-ray scan to see if he had painted anything underneath."

"Did they find anything?"

"Yes."

She looked at him expectantly.

"They found me."

Caroline gaped. "You were in one of the paintings?"

He nodded. "I painted it."

"Yet another painting under another name. But why did you paint yourself out of the artwork?"

"Couldn't afford to be identified. If anyone knew the artist and knew me, it would have been easy to spot the difference. Luckily the media instantly stated that it must be Courbet, and no one questioned it. It would have been highly illogical to pinpoint it on another man, particularly one who still looked like the figure in the painting."

"Well since we've found another famous painting that you're accountable for, what's your favorite piece that you've created?"

Klaus scoffed as if the question was far too easy to answer and shouldn't have even been considered a difficult question. "I'm quite fond of 'The Stolen Kiss', and pretty proud of 'Woman with a Parrot', but my favorite work so far has to be any one of my sketches of you."

Caroline focused on her fingers against his chest to distract herself from the blush threatening to consume her cheeks, but Klaus dipped his fingers under her chin so she met his eyes.

"Truly, love, you light up the page. Any artist would agree. Any critic would agree." He could see that she needed a little more convincing. "Here," He carefully disentangled himself from her and walked over to the desk to fetch the sketchbook.

Caroline couldn't help but admire his confidence, his body, his behind…He turned to catch her checking him out. Rather than be embarrassed or in denial, she winked at him. He flashed a deeply dimpled grin back at her before returning, offering the spiral notepad to her. She hesitated, and he understood that she might be uncertain about something so personal, but they were a little beyond personal now.

Klaus flicked it open to the first sketch of her, washed in sunshine in the cathedral from St Petersburg, eyes closed, palms open. Caroline was simultaneously intrigued and shy. She had never been in the spotlight like that. Sure, organizing made you the boss, cheerleading made sure you were admired, even singing at the Grill got point blank attention. But there was something about someone creating you into art that was personal and confronting. She now understood the idea of a picture 'stealing your soul' – the sketch of her was so close to a perfect copy with something extra, like he had captured her soul on paper too.

Caroline found herself turning the page, curious to how his talented hands had caught another split second moment. The next one was her at the ballet from the back, nowhere near as confronting due to the angle, but just as intimate, with the stray curl at the nape of her neck and the few freckles that dusted her shoulders, all in perfect detail. The next page had the sketch from the train, the girl on the page lost in thought. The one after made her smile as a laughing freeze-frame grinned back at her, Caroline with a dark smudge across her nose – she had managed to get the jam from her toast on her face ever so gracefully.

Klaus watched as she widened her eyes at the sketch that followed. It was her, asleep, a peaceful, blissful expression on her face, her fingers threaded through a hand that was much more masculine than her own, the wrist disappearing out of the scene.

"How come – "

"Never one to place myself in the artwork. Wouldn't want to ruin it." He said lightly, and she made a face.

"Mmm, yeah, you'd be the element to ruin these." She glanced down at the image again. "These are amazing. I don't know whether to be flattered or bashful."

"How about feeling admired?" Klaus said, tucking hair away from her face.

She scoffed in her usual manner. "That's beside the point. You've documented my part of the trip very well." She noted, flipping through the various sketches. "But what about your part in this? Where's the evidence to say you were here with me."

"Its all in the art, love. I don't need to be documented like you." He shrugged, and she raised her eyebrows, then smiled.

"I'll get a camera."

"Don't be absurd." Klaus tutted, but it didn't shake her idea.

"Why not? I'm certainly not going to do any artwork like this. You'd be lucky to get a stick figure. Nope, I'm getting a camera and documenting this. Cant believe I didn't think of it earlier."

"Who says I will let anyone capture me on film?" He said in a vain attempt to dislodge her plan.

"Who said I wanted to be captured on paper?" She retorted smartly. "Come one, please? It's only fair." She glanced down to the book, and then back up with large eyes.

Klaus suddenly understood what Kol had been saying about being 'whipped', he felt like it wouldn't be right for him to give in, but her pout was very attractive –

"Do as you will." He said, taking the only option where he neither had to voice his opinion as agreeing or disagreeing. "However," He said, reaching over to pick up the pencil from the bedside table. "I have one condition."

Caroline looked at him questioningly before she caught on. "Oh god, really?"

"You said it was documentation."

"But I've never voluntarily just sat for something like that."

"Well, technically, love, it isn't voluntary." Klaus said, flipping to a new page while glancing up at her with an ever so slightly menacing edge. "If you wont stay, I might have to force you."

Caroline raised one eyebrow, wondering if she should feel frightened, because she didn't. "And how would you – ohh." His hand had caressed up the length of the inside of her leg as she spoke, and she understood how she could easily stay and be drawn, though she wasn't certain how she would stay still.

"Persuasive enough for you?" Klaus purred as his hand continued up to gently push her shoulder back so she lounged on the assorted pillows and sheets. He pressed a kiss to her temple, her cheekbone, her jawbone and her chin before settling back on the bed to sketch her. When Caroline moved to follow him, he shot her a look that spoke to her in ways that growls and hisses couldn't convey, so she fell back on her elbows with a huff. She inched the sheets up so they covered her breasts, and Klaus made a face, but she made another one back at him.

"Not quite at the nude Titanic paint-me-like-your-french-girls stage of comfort yet."

"Yet." He mumbled, raising his eyebrows at her incredulous look. "Caroline, you're beautiful. Inside and outside and all over." He grinned as she blushed. "There's the vibrancy I was looking for."

"Yeah well no lady bits." Caroline said astutely. "You can keep that in your memories for now."

"Oh, I will be keeping the image of you writhing in ecstasy beneath me at the forefront of my mind for many years to come." He said, focused on the page he was drawing out the base lines upon, eyes flicking up to study her form from under his lashes every few seconds. "Though I'm intending on having that moment refreshed countless times over the course of eternity."

Caroline paused, wet her lips and inhaled a slow breath. "So I'm sticking around?"

Klaus paused, and she realized how her words had sounded more like she would be the one leaving. That wasn't what she had meant. She had wondered more if he would tire of her. She knew him more than she let on. She had learnt more about him than she let on.

"Are you planning on going anywhere?" He asked with a casual air, returning to his sketch like he didn't care about her answer, though she noticed how he sketched faster now, like she would literally leap from the bed that very moment and this would be his final lasting memory of her and he couldn't rely on memories alone.

"No." She said slowly, deliberately, watching as the answer floated through his ears to his mind and he paused again. "But I was wondering if you would be planning on going anywhere."

"Whereabouts?"

"Oh, here, there, anywhere in the middle of the night, leaving me abandoned in some city." She waited till he looked up and met her eyes. "I know you, Niklaus. Believe it or not. You won. So how long do I have before you tire of me? Days?"

Klaus let out a breath at her audacity. Despite her lack of clothing, despite the thought that being naked also made one vulnerable, she managed to be luminous, brave and strong. He was the one left feeling exposed.

Was he tired of her? Would he tire of her? He had won, she was correct in that; she had been conquered once by him. But was once enough? He knew the answer was no. So how much would be enough? He was greedy, he knew that, but every need he had had in the past could easily be accommodated and fulfilled eventually. No need was boundless. But she was not just a want now, she was a need. And need eventuated in weakness. She was his greatest weakness and his downfall, yet he couldn't let her go now, not after he had just won her.

"Not days, love."

"Hours, then?"

"Not hours, either." He had used the word eternity before, and he would use it now were it not for the fearful connotations of words such as love and forever.

Klaus was a lover, not a man in love.

"Then how long?"

"I can't tell you."

She recoiled slightly, and he automatically put a hand on her leg to stop her from leaving.

"I – don't know." Klaus murmured slowly, and Caroline saw how hard it was for him to admit that he wasn't as in control and flawless as he pretended to be. Unmasked, they were both flawed, imperfect, damaged people.

"Hey, its okay." She murmured, not certain if she should move to touch him, so she waited to catch his gaze again. She held it for two heartbeats without a word before biting her lip. "I don't know either."

Stalemate.

"But I'm not planning on leaving just yet." Caroline continued. After a beat, she nodded towards his sketch book in response to his fingers curling around the pages and pencil. He gradually began drawing her again.

"I like you, Klaus." Caroline said softly, knowing that much at least to be true.

His gaze seared straight through her in that point blank style of his, and she felt a true fear shiver all the way down through her stomach to the soles of her feet.

"I like you, Caroline."

Her stomach went from dropping down to the ground floor to soaring with the birds, looping in giddy, nauseous circles. It might not have been a scene out of some rom com movie, but it was more than enough to make her lie still as he sketched her and the many memories of the morning onto the paper.

"Okay." He said after an hour. "It's nowhere near the level of perfection I would like it to be, but one could call it finished."

"Then I'll be that 'one'." Caroline groaned, stretching her limbs like a cat while Klaus ran yet another lingering gaze over her body. "I know I'm a vampire and technically I shouldn't cramp, but that didn't make being still painless." She sat up and held out a hand, silently asking to see the drawing.

Klaus looked up to meet her eyes and shot her his trademark smirk, holding her hand in his palm for a moment before placing the sketchbook in her palm with his other hand. She smiled at him before turning the notepad over to see the sketch.

The Caroline on the page was wrapped up in a sheet that dipped and settled around her body to show that she was artfully naked and voluptuous, but classy. Her skin was glowing and her hair was rumpled from their escapade(s), her lips slightly swollen from his kisses. The part that captured her attention was how the girl on the page was looking point blank at the viewer with a gaze that was both fierce and soft. She realized that this must have been the look that she gave Klaus as she confronted him, and she could see the mixture of passion, vulnerability and strength on the girls face. He may not have been able to express it verbally, but Klaus knew her just as intimately as she knew him.

"I'd love to know what you're thinking, love." The artist murmured against her skin, moving to settle behind her on the bed, brushing soft, tantalizing kisses up her shoulder blade.

"I'm wondering how you managed to create this girl on the page while I sat in front of you." Caroline said honestly, and gasped when he bit her shoulder with blunt teeth.

"I don't know how many times I will have to tell you, but I wont ever tire of it since it is true: you are that headstrong, stubborn, beautiful, strong woman on the page. Only you're more. You're the pure flesh incarnation."

Caroline breathed, taking in the information for once. Then she twisted and pressed her lips to his desperately, hungrily. Once he realized what she was wanting, what she was trying to express that they had both had difficulty stating before, he grasped her fiercely around the waist and pulled her down to the bed, twisting and tumbling over each other. She bit down a little too roughly on his lip, the slight taste of his blood making her heady. Rather than chastise her for the bite, Klaus reciprocated, and their lips moved together with traces of blood, euphoric for such vampires. She bucked up against him and he growled against her, hands smoothing down her silky skin, evoking that feeling of utter pleasure that she knew she had only experienced with him, and would only ever experience with him. He made her come alive under his touch.

It was fantastic.

They woke up hours later, stomachs grumbling.

Caroline had donned his white shirt and done up only three of the buttons, reveling in the way his eyes continued to flit between her face and the slivers of skin that the shirt revealed. Klaus had followed her to the kitchen with a pair of grey sweatpants, and they moved around the kitchen in synchronization, preparing the simplest meal like it was a dance they had done together for decades.

Sitting out in the afternoon sun with Klaus, eating eggs and toast and fruit, Caroline wondered if life was actually working out for once. Sure, it wasn't perfect, but life wasn't meant to be perfect. And it was near perfect for her. Wasn't that what mattered?

It all came crashing down very quickly.

They went for a stroll as the sun set, meandering down the cobbled streets with no purpose.

"Why do you like Europe so much?" Caroline asked as they walked.

"What do you mean?" Klaus asked, wondering where the question had come from.

"Well in case you haven't noticed, we've only been through the lovely European countries. Is the world only confined to Europe?"

"Do I detect a hint there?" He said, chuckling at her sly smile before answering her question. "I like Europe for its history, mainly because I was a part of it. It has culture and art that I admire. But I don't deny that there are many other parts of the world with the same appeal."

"I figured it was because you were really allergic to the sand or something." Caroline teased.

"You're right on target, sweetheart." He deadpanned, and she looked searchingly at him before he let a small smile slip by. "No, I just wanted to show you what I considered to be the classics first. Forgive me."

"Forgiven." She answered instantly, and he smiled, slyly stroking his fingers across her wrist before curling his hand around hers. She clasped it with a surprised but grateful smile.

The soft smile fell off his face as he looked back to the end of the street, and transformed into one of pure ice.

"What's wrong?" Caroline murmured, frowning with worry at his expression before turning to see what the matter was.

Tyler.

It must have been a hallucination.

But it was real.

Tyler was at the end of the street on the corner, checking his phone. A dark haired girl next to him was speaking to him, and his face lit up with a sudden laugh at something she had said before he passed the phone to her and watched as she walked away to make a call.

"This can't be happening." Caroline breathed.

"This isn't a set up?" Klaus asked. She turned, prepared to snap at him for even thinking that she was part of another conspiracy against him, but she heard the soft tone in his voice and saw the pain on his face.

That still didn't stop the acid that crept into her voice. "No, oddly enough I draw the line at being a blonde distraction in plans. The whole sleeping with you think was all my own choice, thanks."

"I've been on the run for centuries, love. Forgive me for jumping to conclusions." He rumbled.

She calmed down slightly and sighed, but didn't respond like she had before. "We'll see."

"So you didn't plan on having your boyfriend show up?"

"Ex-boyfriend. And no, not planned." Caroline glanced ahead to Tyler, who had spotted them. Crap. His face was a mixture of surprise and anger, and she knew she'd have to talk to him. "Do you mind giving us some privacy?"

Klaus immediately looked doubtful and enraged, jaw clenching, and Caroline smoothed her fingers up from his hand to stroke his wrist.

"What's saying you wont run?" He growled in an undertone.

Caroline locked eyes with him. "You'll just have to trust me."

She could see how much that scared him, but she had to try, and she knew that it was the only correct answer in that situation.

Klaus looked ahead to Tyler again, who glared at him as he walked towards them with an arrogant swagger, and then back to Caroline. He nodded.

"Come back," He murmured softly, before slipping from her grasp and walking away in the opposite direction, back towards the apartment.

Caroline sighed, watching him leave with a pang in her heart, before taking a deep breath and turning to face Tyler.

"Tyler," She greeted with a small smile, but it was forced.

"Caroline, what the hell?!" Tyler's accent was a blow in the face, and though she didn't hate his American accent or his dark toned voice, she found herself wishing for a softer, English, melodious voice. The one that had just left.

"I could ask the same of you." She replied, crossing her arms. "What are you doing here?"

Tyler looked slightly bashful, but confident. "I followed you."

Caroline was outraged. "You what?"

"I've been trying to find you for a while. Bonnie had to do a tracking spell –"

"Bonnie." Caroline spat, her blood boiling. She loved her friend and knew deep down that she was doing what she thought was best for her, but really? Sic Tyler on her so she could be bundled back to Mystic Falls? She knew it was Caroline's own choice to leave. Bonnie must have needed her, missed her. She missed her friend terribly, but she was still a little angry that Bonnie had used magic to locate her for her own purposes.

"Look, we don't have much time. As soon as we get back to the hotel, Bonnie's given us some talisman so Klaus cant track you. You'll be safe."

"I chose to be here, Tyler."

Tyler hadn't expected that. "You chose to be here?" He frowned. "You must be compelled."

"Tyler!" Caroline stepped back. "I'm not compelled." She stiffened her spine. "And I wasn't compelled when I broke up with you."

"That wasn't a break up, Care." He gritted. "It wasn't a fair break up. You know that."

Caroline bit her lip, playing with her fingers, uncertain as to how she could handle this. "Look, Tyler. I meant what I said. We aren't the same people anymore."

"No, I'm not the same person because I went through transformation after transformation in the mountains to change for you."

"It was for you too!"

"It was still a struggle! And did you stand by me through it? No. I didn't have anyone for at least two weeks before Hay-"

Caroline took a breath, backing away mentally from her anger to receive the new information.

"What?"

Tyler was silent for a moment. "Hayley."

"Who is Hayley?" Caroline bristled slightly.

"A werewolf." He said slowly. "She was with me for some of my time trying to break the sire bond. She's here in Paris because she knew we had to get you back to Mystic Falls."

Caroline wondered if she should feel jealous. Then she laughed slightly because she realized that she didn't feel anything. No jealousy. Nothing.

She was over Tyler. Completely.

"Care?" Tyler was looking at her like she had finally gone crazy.

"Oh Tyler." She smiled. "Go home."

"What?"

"Go get Hayley and go home." She said, backing away from him again. "And Tyler? I hope you have a wonderful life. I'll see you again someday." Caroline smiled gently before turning her back on him.

"No, Care, you're going to come with us." She felt his hand latch painfully around her upper arm.

"Get your hands off her." A low voice snarled, but before Klaus could reach Tyler to tear his grip away, Caroline had spun and snatched her ex-boyfriends hand away from her.

"Tyler, no. I'm sorry. I'm not going with you."

"But Caroline – "

"Tyler, do you need me? Do you need me?"

"Of course I – "

"Tyler." She looked at him, and he opened his mouth and then closed it without making a sound, at a loss for words.

"We need you. And I miss you. And I don't feel like we ended right." He finally said with honesty.

Caroline was touched. "I miss you too, Ty. And yeah, we didn't end right. But maybe its right that we ended? I know you cant see it now, but I hope you will soon." She spotted the dark haired girl from earlier, who must have been Hayley, walking towards the trio cautiously. "Enjoy Paris for a while and go home to Mystic Falls."

This time, when she turned away, Tyler let her go with Klaus.


	15. Fierce and Fragile

The hour after seemed tinged with bitterness after Tyler's appearance.

They walked in silence for a while till they found themselves at the Louvre. Klaus looked questioningly at Caroline, and she shrugged, not wanting to be the one to say the first word, wondering what his would be. They walked up to the door despite the queue, Klaus compelling the guard to let them in. Caroline made a small noise of discontent, but was otherwise silent.

They walked through the sleek modern entry hall, and Klaus clasped Caroline's hand to lead her through the crowd to the stairs and narrowed hallways, meandering with his hand still around hers. Caroline breathed a small sigh of relief. Maybe everything was okay.

He pointed out certain landscapes and portraits and sculptures, and she nodded and listened to the small facts he stated, but waited to be caught up in artworks that jumped out at her.

The first was The Winged Victory, which pleased Klaus greatly. Caroline stared, spellbound by the sculpture, despite the missing arms and head.

"Isn't it magnificent." Klaus murmured, reverting back to his previous mission to constantly be in contact with her as he wrapped his arms around her waist and smiled softly when she pressed the side of her head against his jaw.

"What makes it so…mesmerizing?"

"Well, you're speaking to someone who is a little biased on what is mesmerizing," He swirled his fingers across the area of her rib cage on which they rested to imply who mesmerized him in particular. "But I'd say it was the movement of the statues figure, and the lack of arms and head."

"What happened to them?"

"Not certain. I'm not actually that old, you know." He teased, and she shrugged.

"Oh, you know, just cause you're a million," She jolted as his fingers dug playfully into her ribcage, ticking her so she moved and laughed against him, making him hold her tighter for pure pleasure.

"A million? Since that's a big step down from a billion, I'll take that as a compliment." He chuckled into the shell of her ear, before she twisted her neck to look at him.

"Really, what happened to them?" She asked, directing the conversation back to the statue.

"I honestly don't know. It was made almost a thousand years before I was even a thought."

"So you aren't the oldest thing in the building. Must be a nice thought."

Klaus narrowed his eyes teasingly, and Caroline poked her tongue out. He shocked her by swiftly nipping the tip of her tongue with blunt teeth, repeating the action on her nose when she gasped and giggled in surprise.

"Never figured you'd be one for surprises." She murmured against him, and he looked at her questioningly.

"Really, love? I'm full of surprises."

Caroline did have to agree with that. Many instances in Mystic Falls would confirm that Klaus was anything but predictable. She grinned as an idea came to her.

"Want to play a game, then?" She whispered against his stubbled cheek, feeling it rise in a mischievous grin.

"What did you have in mind, love?"

"Hide and Seek."

"I thought you said you'd be terrible at that."

"That's why I'm creating new rules. Caroline rules. Guess where I'll be in the Louvre."

"And what do I get if I guess correctly?" Klaus asked, his hands sliding halfway up the back of her shirt. Caroline arced against him, pressing herself against his broad chest.

"You get me." She breathed against his ear, her lips catching on his lobe.

"But I have you right now." He pointed out astutely.

Caroline pulled back slightly to smile slyly at him. "Well, now you see me –"

The end of her sentence never came as she flashed out of Klaus' grasp, and he gave a hushed growl under his breath before whipping around to see if anyone had seen them, and running after her scent.

She was much quicker than he gave her credit for, possibly due to the fact that she had been exchanging blood with the oldest, most powerful being on the planet. He stopped in an alcove after he grew tired of attempting to chase her by scent without success, and used his mind instead, thinking about Caroline's nature and which artwork she would be instantly attracted to. His mind instantly turned to one in particular, and he smiled deviously before running to the other side of the museum. Yes, there she was, he'd recognize her tangle of curls anywhere, and the accompanying scent of lilies baking in the sunlight. She gave a slight shriek as he appeared beside her, spinning her so she was against him thigh to thigh, toe to toe.

"Got you." He half growled into her neck, and she gave a breathless chuckle.

"You play a risky game, little one." Klaus continued, smoothing his lips up her neck like brush strokes of fire against her skin. "What if we were caught?"

"Oh, I know you, Niklaus." She murmured huskily, sending a thrill shooting down his spine with her words and her fingers threading through his hair. "You would have come up with some sort of brilliant plan."

He was very nearly distracted from the sensual white marble sculpture they stood beside. Caroline saw his glance to the artwork and smiled.

"How'd you guess?"

"Oh, somehow I just knew that you'd be attracted to the most tender and passionate lovers of all time." He smirked as they studied the two figures – Psyche and Cupid – wrapped in each others arms like the lovers before them. "Remind you of anyone?" He asked mischievously, his arm slyly sliding up to rest just under her breasts in a similar style to the statue. Caroline tapped his arm away, looking around to the tourists paying little to no attention to the typical lovers. She shook her head slightly at him in exasperation, but it didn't prevent the smile from gracing her face, and her hand from curling around his.

They wandered through the rest of the gallery hand in hand until closing at 9, when the masses began to be rounded up like cattle and shepherded towards the exits.

"Sorry, mate, forgot something." Klaus said to one of the guards, pulling Caroline with him as they ducked back.

"What are you doing?" She asked with just a hint of apprehension.

"Relax, I just needed to do one thing." He said, taking a small piece of paper from his pocket. She recognised it as one of his sketches…of her.

"What are you doing?" Caroline repeated as he stopped walking when they reached a door.

"You didn't listen to me the first time, did you?" Klaus said with amusement, knocking on the door to the curators office.

"I did until you took a drawing of me out in the Louvre." She said. "I don't trust whatever you have planned."

Klaus jokingly pressed a hand to his heart, rolling his eyes. "Just wait here, please."

"But – "

"Love, don't make me compel you."

Caroline crossed her arms with a huff, but waited as he stepped into the room and rejoined her a short while later.

"I don't want to know what you did with that sketch, do I." She said warily as Klaus took her hand again and began walking them towards the exit.

"Perhaps. But you will be able to see soon."

...

Walking along the streets of Paris was like being in a movie. The multicolored lights shone in arcs off the pavement, creating a glow that matched Klaus and Caroline's as they walked along the streets hand in hand.

"So where should we go to cap off the night?" Caroline mused aloud, watching Klaus rather than the passing streets. "A little Parisian drink in a bar? Or back to our place?"

He bit back a smile at her words, but Caroline saw it, and it made her echo the action.

"While I would like nothing more than to get you alone at our place," Klaus said, glancing from Caroline's face to ahead of them, stopping their walk with a pull on her hand. "I think you may want to do what I have planned first."

"I doubt that," She murmured, stepping closer to him and smoothing her hand across his jaw line and down chest.

Klaus caught her hand before it could go further than his abdomen, pressing a swift kiss to it, the stubble tickling her skin delightfully.

"Look up, love." He tilted his head towards the trees, and Caroline looked up with a gasp.

"The Eiffel Tower?" She breathed. There it was, the colossal metal structure, lit up with all its magnificent glory.

"Shall we?"

They reached the four legs of the iconic French structure, eyeing the cue for the lifts.

Klaus looked at Caroline.

"Race you to the top?"

They climbed the twisted metal in a blur, breaking through the flimsy chicken wire at the top and appearing so fast that the few who saw them assumed their minds were playing tricks on them. Caroline exhaled, adjusting her top while Klaus glanced around and then mussed up her curls. She gaped playfully at him and he winked.

"Like what you see?"

She quirked a brow, and he smiled sheepishly, which earned a giggle from Caroline. Klaus was sheepish? And joking?

"I meant Paris."

She spun around to see the many city lights twinkling below them, beautiful and surreal.

"Wow," She breathed, walking to the edge and curling her fingers around the railing as she surveyed every detail of Paris.

"I know," Klaus said softly, watching her rather than the sights, slowly putting his hands on her waist, his breath catching as the angel leaned back into his arms without much more encouragement.

"This is absolutely perfect." Caroline sighed with a smile.

"I'm glad." He murmured into her hair, his lips catching on the tip of the shell of her ear. She shivered in his embrace.

"I'm torn, however."

"How so?"

Caroline turned to look at him. "I can't decide on whether to look at the view, or you, or skip both of them and kiss you instead."

Klaus surprised her and kissed her, his beautiful blue eyes open and shining with the shimmer of the Parisian night lights. She kissed him back, her eyes locked on his, and she swore her heart lifted out of her chest and soared into the night while she felt his own heartbeat stutter and race into a gallop under her palm. She parted her lips from his and rested her forehead against his, never breaking their eye contact.

Caroline felt it, a word, a feeling, bubbling up in her chest and threatening to burst from her lips like one of the dazzling shooting stars above them or the fragile butterflies suddenly present in her stomach, or the lightning that was currently zipping through her veins. But she knew it was too soon, and it was Klaus, and despite her accepting some feelings towards him, she couldn't just jump from one emotion to the other.

Plus she could only imagine what Klaus would think. Or rather do. Presumably run. Or vanish into thin air. Caroline hadn't ever felt this, and even thinking those words were such a cliché, but she felt they were true. She hadn't ever come across a man who not only offered her the world, but gladly gave her the world and showed her everything it – and he – could offer.

So she said nothing, but kissed him again, hoping he could feel what she wasn't going to say, and hoping it was enough for now.

Caroline woke up smiling. She seemed to be doing that a lot now she was waking up next to Klaus. She stretched, rolling out of the bed to shower, the biggest thought in her head being whether or not she could rustle up some breakfast. Her phone flashed with a message, and she paused on her way to the shower to check.

Her face went white, and her stomach dropped. She bit her lip, glancing to see if Klaus had woken up but he was still submerged completely in oblivion, exhausted from the night before. The very thought brought a smile to her face, but it was wiped completely as she turned her attention back to the message.

She was ready in seconds. She glanced once at Klaus' sleeping form, slipping quietly out the door. She double checked the address that had been texted to her, running silently and swiftly through the streets of Paris.

She knew what she was doing was wrong. It wasn't right to go and meet up with Tyler, especially when she had to run from Klaus to do so. He would not be happy. But this way she got a good chance to talk to Tyler and sort everything out properly.

She arrived at the Eiffel Tower – how ironic it was after last night – and spun around, scanning the crowd for that familiar face. She sensed a presence and stiffened, before turning around.

Yup, Tyler.

"Really? You know how jumpy I get, especially right now." She huffed, but calmed down quickly. She'd had a better hold on her emotions recently.

"Only cause you had to escape from Klaus. What kind of a relationship is that?" Tyler was hurt, she could see that, and she could see why he would be. However, it wasn't exactly like he was here alone trying to find her either.

"Where's Hayley?"

"It's not like that."

"I'm not blind, Ty. And I'm also not ignorant. She helped you in the mountains didn't she?" Caroline could see the ever so slightly guilty look on his face, and let an understanding expression claim her face. She motioned towards some benches, and they walked over, sat down, and began to talk through it all.

Klaus woke up lazily, which he had not done for many centuries. He stretched, the action somewhere between a lion and a dog, and glanced around the room for Caroline, frowning when he saw she was nowhere to be found. Sitting up in bed, he listened out. Shower not running, no sound in the lounge or kitchen, there was no other heartbeat or set of functioning lungs in the apartment.

She was gone.

Klaus couldn't even comprehend it.

But then he felt it.

First it was as if his entire torso had been hollowed out: no lungs so he fought for air, no stomach so it felt like it had dropped. Then it all came rushing back to him, but it hurt. The organs felt damaged. And then he knew that she had been the one to make them feel this way, to damage them, and his whole body hummed with red hot rage.

Klaus snarled to the morning, swearing to make her pay.

Caroline walked home, strangely feeling heavy but lighter. At least they had both talked it through to the point where they were both understanding of the others side.

She let herself into the apartment – of course it was unlocked, they were vampires – and tried to walk in quietly. Maybe she could just sneak back in and act like she hadn't left and –

"Hello, sweetheart." Klaus was sitting on the couch facing the door with a cold smile on his face. "Did you have fun?"

Busted.

Caroline winced, but composed herself and decided to face whatever was in store. "I just went out for a walk. Didn't want to wake you."

Klaus nodded, but his eyes were harsh and his tone was condescending. "And so that's why you're sneaking in, smelling of my first turned hybrid Tyler."

Caroline opened her mouth to come up with some response, but she had none. She was rendered into silence regardless when a brunette with dazzling emerald eyes sasheyed in from the balcony.

"Ah, wonderful timing." Klaus said, beckoning the human girl over. "Bring your friends in as well, wont you?"

The woman nodded absently, swishing around and disappearing out on the balcony again.

"What's going on?" Caroline bristled.

Klaus had to absolute audacity to grin at her, and though she was thankful that this smile had no hint of an adorable dimple, she couldn't find anything else to be thankful for.

"Isn't it obvious, love?"

"Don't call me love if you're going to feed on innocent girls." She hissed at him.

Four girls walked back in, and Caroline watched in disgust as Klaus stood to join them.

"Your loss, love." He shot the pet name purposefully at her, turning so he was behind the first girl, sweeping back her brown curly hair to expose her neck and her jumping pulse. Klaus glanced up tauntingly at Caroline as the girl arched backward to press against his chest.

"Sure I cant tempt you with a drink?" His fangs came out, and Caroline growled, rushing over to him and pulling the girl from his grasp.

"Forget about all this, and go about your life with your friends. Don't come back." She compelled with a slight snarl, and turned her icy gaze to Klaus as the girls walked out like clones. Caroline had the grace to wait till the door shut behind them to slap the smirk off Klaus' face.

"What the actual hell, Niklaus Mikaelson? You knew I wasn't comfortable with that kind of crap, and you still purposefully went out of your way to do it."

Klaus stood stone faced. "Who said I went out of my way to do it? That's my nature, love. A born killer."

Caroline shook her head, trying to erase the words from her brain. "You know that's not true like that."

"But that. Is what. I am." Klaus said in his eerily calm voice, hands coming down like clamps around her wrists. She struggled vainly against them, but he didn't let her move an inch. "You best look properly now, love. This is the monster, and you'll have to get used to it if you run again." His eyes were yellow, but she looked up to him without fear.

"I wasn't running, Klaus." She hissed at him. "But do you really think that lowly of me?" Her knee jabbed into his stomach, and she finally evaded his grip, only to come back with her own punches, which he dodged.

"You were the one to sneak away in the morning." He growled, catching hold of her arm and twisting it so she was momentarily still, stuck between him and the table. "I was the one to wake up with no idea as to where you had gone."

"And you couldn't trust me to come back?" She asked breathlessly.

"You've spent a majority of our relationship evading me, what else would I expect of you?" He could tell he had said the wrong thing as her eyes turned red once more, but it was the truth.

"I've changed." Caroline said, her hand searching the tabletop to find something to help her. "Though its obvious that you haven't." She snarled, recalling the four stunning models he had been planning to feed upon. Her hand clasped something, and she swung it back around to crash against his head. Klaus didn't even make a sound as the vase smashed around his head, breaking to pieces and clattering to the floor.

Caroline shoved away from him, turning to hurtle back and collide into him, all sharp nails and sharp teeth and snarls. Klaus hit the table with Caroline ontop of him, and his hands flew out just in time to keep her from clawing at his face.

"Then why were you with Tyler?"

"I was trying to be the bigger person and break it off with him properly so I could stay with you, you jerk!" She battered him with her knees against his chest while he kept her hands from flying to harm him. "Though I don't know why, you're clearly not worth the effort."

Caroline was suddenly on the floor underneath him.

"Don't say things like that." He growled.

"Why not? You were fully prepared to hurt me, why cant I do the same to you?"

"Because its not meant to hurt me, it shouldn't hurt me, but it does."

She stopped struggling to frown up at him.

"You're the only one who can hurt me. And I don't like feeling that vulnerable, but it is what it is, love." Klaus said honestly, his eyes fading from yellow to their pure blue.

Caroline stared up at him, but was shaken back to her anger by his pet name. "That doesn't change anything."

"Why not?" It still came out as a growl, and it made it easier to be angry with him despite his ways.

"Because you were still a monster."

Her arms were slammed and pinned to the floor either side of her head.

"I am a monster, love. Get used to it."

"Fuck you." She hissed, latching her legs around his hips and using the movement to roll them so she wasn't trapped underneath him.

"I hope you meant that literally." He smirked, and she snarled, struggling to tear his hands from her wrists so she can lash out properly at him. He muffled a groan – her movements were distracting when they were pressed together like they were.

He shot up, Caroline still wound tightly around him in her attempts to hit him, and shoved her against the wall, one of the paintings crashing to the ground next to them.

"Don't start something you can't handle, little one." He snapped, one hand twisting in her hair, the other holding her wrists together against the wall.

"Bite me." She challenged, kicking her feet pointlessly against his back.

Klaus growled and attacked her neck, but not with his teeth, sucking hard enough to make her arch against him rather than flail, struggling for an entirely different reason.

"S-stop." Caroline stuttered breathlessly, her body already succumbing with shivers.

"Make me." He challenged her now, pulling back to see whether she would protest. He didn't get much of a chance to look at her before she pulled his head towards hers for a bruising kiss.

Later, a long while later, they lay panting on the floor. Klaus stroked a hand down Caroline's bare back, and she hummed.

"I'm still mad at you." She murmured languidly.

"I know." He replied.


	16. Welcome Stranger

"Hello strangers." Rebekah's familiar drawl welcomed Klaus and Caroline into the stunning Italian villa. Caroline had forced her mouth to stay shut despite the gorgeous countryside, romantic vineyard and magestic mansion that they drove up to. She had also resolutely opened the car door for herself and picked up her bag before Klaus could reach it.

Caroline walked through the door and continued to blank any gesture Klaus made towards her.

"Fancy seeing you here." Kol said from the stairs he had paused upon. "As I recall, you were meant to stay in Paris for a week."

At the mention of the romantic French city, Caroline made a small growling noise in the back of her throat and, yanking Rebekah by the wrist, dragged her up the stairs past Kol.

"Just show me the guest room."

The two remaining Originals listened to the girls clatter up the oak stairs and slam a door. Kol turned to his brother with a Cheshire grin.

"Trouble in Paradise?"

"Unless you want to find out what your feet taste like when shoved down your throat, I'd advise to keep your mouth shut."

"Niklaus," Klaus recognised the low tones immediately. Elijah. Klaus sighed. All of the remaining Mikaelsons under one roof. This was going to end chaotically.

"Unless I'm mistaken, I heard the lovely Miss Forbes voice." Elijah appeared from the study in his usual attire – immaculate suit and all. "What have I missed?"

Kol glanced at Klaus. "May I?"

"Go ahead. I dare you." Klaus grated. He figured it would be a simple way to find an excuse to start a violent fight. Particularly when it was against his immortal annoying younger brother.

"Klaus has turned into what I've learnt nowadays is labeled as a 'pussy', and in courting the fair Miss Caroline has lost all hope and arrogant self confidence. My guess as to what happened in Paris was that he attempted to seduce her and failed, and/or in one of his usual tempter tantrums offended the dear girl. Well, Nik?" Kol choked out, for Klaus had casually stalked over and wrapped his hand around his younger brothers throat, squeezing progressively tighter.

"When I do this hard enough, Kol, I wonder, will your throat snap first, or just explode?"

"Niklaus," Elijah repeated in an exhausted way. "Stop terrorizing Kol and answer the question."

"Yes, please, I'd love to know if Caroline is up for grabs." Kol chuckled breathlessly, scrabbling at Klaus' hand when it clenched around his throat.

"Kol – " Elijah said warningly, but Kol still had a glimmer of cheek left in his bright eyes.

"Tell me, brother, did you get a chance to see how she was glorious she was in bed, or will that be my pleasure first?"

Crack.

Kol crumpled to the floor, but it wasn't enough for Klaus, who snarled with golden eyes searching for his next victim. Elijah placed sturdy hands on his brother's shoulders.

"Calm yourself," He cautioned, and Klaus listened to him for a change, slowly inhaling and exhaling air.

"How much of his teasing is true?" Elijah asked Klaus when his eyes were blue once more.

Klaus shrugged him off, hoisting Kol over his shoulder and placing him on the couch so he at least woke up well.

"Niklaus?" Elijah tried again, but was ignored once more as Klaus sat on the opposite couch with a leather-bound book. Elijah sighed, but did not admit defeat, deciding to wait out the silence. It took merely five minutes of standing attentive and waiting patiently with his eyes trained on Klaus' unmoving face. Finally, Klaus heaved a heavy sigh.

"Yes?" Elijah said, trying not to sound too encouraging.

"Caroline," Klaus rasped, the sound half prayer, half curse. "Where to begin with Caroline."

"She is your…" Elijah started, not certain what to label the unusual occurrence as.

"Mine. She is mine. That is all anyone needs to know it as." Klaus glared at Kol's immobile form.

"Understood." Elijah nodded. "Now what happened."

"Everything was more than pleasant. And then that mutt showed up. Tyler." Klaus growled.

"But she is still with you, so what is the problem?" Elijah questioned, and saw an emotion flit across his brothers features that he had not seen in a thousand years – guilt. Guilt? How peculiar.

"I may have assumed she had left with him and possibly compelled some humans –"

"Heavens, surely you did not –"

"I did nothing." Klaus snapped, shocking himself out of his softer, trance-like state. "And none of this is your concern."

"You are my brother. Of course it is."

Klaus clenched his jaw at his brother's sentimental words. "Half brother." He corrected harshly. "Mikael did an excellent job reminding me that I was Mother's one mistake, the abomination, her biggest sin."

"You were not Mother's biggest sin." Elijah said. "You were our biggest gift, a savior. Our brother, the strongest part of our family, always and forever."

There was a pause, and both men shifted awkwardly in the heartfelt moment.

"Regardless," Elijah began slowly. "You should apologize to Caroline."

"Why should I apologize?" Klaus snarled, but Elijah stood his ground.

"The lady is never the one in the wrong. Even if there is no one in the wrong, or both are at fault, its always the gentleman's task to apologize." Elijah told him sternly.

"Who said anything about being a gentleman?" Klaus said with a cocked eyebrow.

…

"That's all?" Rebekah said, sprawled across the four-poster bed in the guestroom while Caroline stormed back and forth, hanging up clothes and ranting.

"What do you mean that's all?" Caroline halted and glared at the fellow blonde who was running her fingers through her straight hair, fanning it across her face.

"You have absolutely no idea what kind of wrath he has done before." Rebekah sighed, pausing in her actions to lock eyes across the room. "Seriously."

"I don't even want to know, do I?"

"You don't need to know. Just assume that he's actually done some things that are far crueler and hideously violent and you might begin to comprehend some of the nicer things my big brother has done." Rebekah's eyes were hazy and distant for a moment, before she shook her head slightly and focused on Caroline, who had paused while putting a dress on a hanger. "But don't forgive him. Just because he's known for doing evil things doesn't mean he should get away with them. Particularly when you've changed him as much as you have." She smiled wryly. "Harlot. Changing him like training a dog."

"Hey!" Caroline said, continuing on her mission while shooting a glare at the girl. "I resent that!"

"Yet you don't deny it." Rebekah teased, easily rolling to dodge the pillow from a nearby armchair that had been thrown at her head. "Womanly charms. I've always lived by two moral codes, Caro-pop. Family first – always and forever. But my own personal favorite, artem femininum pulchritude. The art of feminine beauty. Use it to your advantage."

"Doesn't that cancel out your first moral code, helping me out?" Caroline said with a raised eyebrow.

Rebekah scoffed and waved a hand. "I've considered you as a sister longer than I've considered Nik a true brother."

"Harsh, Beks." Caroline frowned, but was still touched by the girl's words.

"Tough for Nik. Doesn't mean I don't love him, I love all my brothers. I just don't always consider them true and good brothers."

"But they're still your family."

"True." Rebekah sighed, examining her nails. "Still doesn't mean I can't take sides in a spat between my brother and my girl."

"Don't let Nik hear you say I'm your girl." Caroline giggled, closing the wardrobe doors.

"I won't let Nik hear about it." Rebekah said while giving her a look with raised eyebrows. "Mums the word."

Caroline shrugged off her own words – it was just a nickname, chill out Rebekah – and went to flop down on the bed next to the blonde Original.

"Why is he so difficult?"

"He's my brother. He's one of the Mikaelson clan. That should explain everything."

"But just cause I'm hanging out with you guys right now doesn't mean that I'm going to drop all my beliefs." Caroline said, refusing to look at Rebekah even when she rolled on her side to stare at her. "I'm not going to stop thinking that it isn't always right to feed directly from people. Because yeah, we might not be human anymore, but we're all still people. And I don't want to hurt anyone."

"I knew a man who felt the same way once." Rebekah mused. "He was able to come to terms with feeding after a while. He is probably one of the most gracious vampires I've ever known, and by far more considerate than Klaus and Kol."

"Who?" Caroline asked, turning her head to see Rebekah's face.

"Elijah. My best brother, in my opinion, just don't tell anyone." She whispered, and Caroline smiled. "He's here at the villa," Rebekah continued. "If you want to talk to someone who's gone through a thousand years of having a conscience while feeding."

"He's here? I'm sure your brother will be happy about that." Caroline scoffed.

"Why is he labeled as my brother now and not your lover?" Rebekah teased, laughing at the embarrassed look that flitted across Caroline's face.

"Whatever. I'm going to shower, that plane ride was just terrible." Caroline huffed and rolled off the bed, walking to the door that lead to the ensuite.

"Suit yourself. Dinner will be in an hour, so don't make me drag you down there." Rebekah called, hopping off the bed herself and exiting the room.

Caroline stepped in under the hot pelting water with a sigh, wondering just how long she could stay there rather than face whatever awaited her downstairs. Truth was, it was just so easy to be talked out of being angry with Klaus, particularly when his sister got involved. Caroline knew for certain that whatever cruel acts she had witnessed from Klaus, they were nothing compared to whatever Rebekah would have seen in the past millennium, or even experienced from him. Perhaps that was why Rebekah was eager to stick with Caroline, and even encourage her to stay with Klaus – she saw the changes that Caroline made in him and wanted it to stay that way.

Caroline hummed, shampooing her hair before closing her eyes and rinsing it off. As she ran her fingers through her hair to untangle it, she felt another set of longer, artists fingers join in her task. Her eyes flew open and she inhaled, but was slightly settled when she recognised Klaus' scent. Only slightly settled. She wasn't going to throw him out, but she was still going to keep up the act of being mad at him.

"I hope you remembered to lock the door, Kol. We don't want your brother walking in."

"Very funny joke, sweetheart. Did you think that up yourself?" Klaus' voice betrayed him, lowering to a rasping harsh growl.

"What do you want, Niklaus?" Caroline huffed, refusing to turn around and talk to him properly. Particularly when his hands were sliding down from her sopping wet hair and down her shoulders and back.

"Oh, my dear, you know what I want." He breathed, every whisper of air hitting her wet shoulder sensitively. His bare chest pressed against her back, and she arched subtly into him.

"Well, sadly, I still can't forgive you." Caroline sighed, pressing slightly closer to him before stepping away and grabbing the bottle of body wash. She lathered up, glancing over her shoulder to Klaus with a suggestive face. "Would you help with my back?"

Klaus complied, softly soaping her back, taking his time.

"Suit yourself." He murmured, skimming his hand around her waist to reach his own bar of soap. She turned to see him, glorious, water streaming around him. Maybe the steam was getting to her head.

"I'd ask you to return the favour," Klaus said, referring to the soap. "But seeing as you're too unforgiving…"

"Here," Caroline rolled her eyes, one hand grabbing the soap while the other gently pulled on his shoulder to turn him. She was fine going over his shoulders; it wasn't until she had to follow the muscular lines of his back that her eye began to wander further down…and she knew what his plan was.

And it was so working.

"Here. Done." Caroline slapped the soap bar back in his hands, turning to rinse off one more time before she left. Klaus naturally refused to budge as she attempted to step around him to get to the glass shower door.

"Do you mind?"

"Not at all." Klaus smirked, shifting marginally so Caroline could squeeze past him. She retaliated by making sure to press every inch of her soft body against his muscular form as she did so.

"Do you mind?" He asked, turning the shower water to cold as she grabbed a large towel.

"Not at all." Caroline smirked, drying herself off ever so suggestively.

"Still mad at you." She shot over her shoulder as she walked out of the bathroom.

"I know," He responded, making the water icy. He really needed that cold shower.

…

"Caroline," Elijah greeted as Caroline descended the stairs.

"Elijah. Long time no see." She replied pleasantly, extending her hand to sit in his outstretched palm and smiling when he kissed it in his typical gentlemanly fashion. "How are things in Mystic Falls?"

"Resorting to normalcy. Elena is coping reasonably well, and the new hunter has been taken care of."

"I'm guessing you had something to do with that?" Caroline asked causally, though her insides leapt at the new of her friend.

"Not quite. That was more Elena's doing."

Her stomach dropped now. "What?"

Elijah frowned. "Elena is a vampire. I thought you knew this."

"What?!"

Elijah gently took her elbow and lead her over to perch on the couch.

"After her accident, Elena ended up completing the transition. The Salvatore's have been helping her through her transition while keeping her new nature secret and therefore safe from the hunter."

"She told me Bonnie had found a spell or something to slow down the process…" Caroline squeezed her eyes shut. Stupid. Of course. Elena was doing her thing trying to make Caroline's life better and not allowing her own troubles to get in the way of her friend's.

"Bonnie attempted something to save her, but it was all for naught." Elijah peered at her in that intense way of his. "Are you all right?"

"Fine, thank you." Caroline said after a few deep breaths.

"She was just trying to protect you." Elijah said, watching Caroline's face and placing his hand over hers reassuringly. "I know she would not want you to worry about her. That is not her way. Elena is very compassionate like that."

"The only one of the doppelgangers to ever show a virtue." Klaus' gravelly tones echoed in from the hall, and the two looked up to see him leaning against a wall with his usual James Dean-esque air. His gaze zeroed in on his brothers hand covering Caroline's in a comforting way. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Caroline said too quickly, and amended herself. "I just found out what's really been going on in Mystic Falls."

"I see." Klaus said, but both Caroline and Elijah could sense the suspicion in his very nature.

"Dinner." Elijah said decidedly, and held out a hand to help Caroline up from the couch, but Klaus beat him to it, claiming Caroline as his. She would have rolled her eyes at his possessiveness, but she remembered the story she had heard from the Salvatore's about the Mikaelson brothers and the original doppelganger. Plus it did help when Klaus smoothed his fingers up from her hand to her elbow and then danced them across the small of her back to splay across her hip, creating fire in their wake.

The three entered the dining room with the round table set for five. Klaus pulled out a chair for Caroline, his fingers running up her ribcage and along her arms till he had to pull away to sit down himself, like he couldn't bear to keep his hands off her, to keep their skin from being in contact, always. Despite there not being a head of the table, Caroline couldn't help but notice that Klaus sat at the seat that could be considered the front of the table, with Caroline on his right side, in the position of honor.

Elijah sat on Klaus' left, and Rebekah and Kol wandered in fashionably as usual. At some unseen cue, a man and a woman entered, wordlessly setting down entrée's and leaving just as swiftly. At yet another unseen cue that seemed to be more set in habit than anything, the Mikaelson's moved into action, working like a family of swallows, placing food on each other's plates and passing wordlessly in unison. Klaus took one look at Caroline and her bemused face and smiled, placing a few different delicacies on her plate as she sat back and watched the odd scene. She had never been to a proper family dinner. Most nights she would either have a quiet meal with her mom or eat alone. Caroline had never seen anything like this before. It was wonderful.

Dinner followed as much of the same. The family worked as a unit, teasing and snapping and smirking and eating the delicious Italian cuisine. Caroline sat back and watched quietly, allowing them to function together once more while she learnt what was expected, how to be with them. When she realized that she was thinking specifically how to be with them with the idea of it being in the long term, she pushed it to the back of her mind. Yet it still sat there like a comforting, warm thought, and she found it something that she welcomed.

"Where do you think you're going, love?" Klaus said after dinner and then the drinks on the couch. Caroline turned to face him from where she had begun walking to the guest room.

"I'm going to bed." She answered as if it made perfect sense, which it did.

"Well I hate to tell you this, but you're going in the wrong direction."

She huffed, crossing her arms in an act of defiance before realizing that it gave him an excuse to lower his gaze with his usual smirk, so she compromised by placing her hands on her hips.

"I am fairly certain I'm going in the right direction. Goodnight, Klaus." She spun to leave but found him in front of her and way too lose as she bumped into his chest.

"Only 'goodnight'? No embraces or kisses or touches?" His fingers ghosted down her arms, lacing around her wrists. "Just 'goodnight'?" He murmured against her cheekbone.

She prepared to sigh, but held back, knowing that if she even inhaled near him she would be forever under his spell and give in all over again. No. This time she was getting what she wanted, all her way.

"No. Sweet dreams too." Caroline ghosted with her lips along his skin, smiling and closing the door behind her.

She found herself awake for most of the night as she tossed and turned, but not from nightmares. No, she had conquered those with Klaus' help. She just found that she slept better with him beside her. They fit together in sleep, even if it was only innocently lying side by side, and the absence of his body in bed with hers was greatly felt.

But her pride was greater, and so she stayed resolutely in her bed. Alone.


	17. Fun With The Mikaelsons

"Hello darling." Kol greeted Caroline with a smile.

She did not raise her head from the newspaper she was trying to decipher with her middle school taught Italian knowledge.

"Morning, Kol."

"Sleep well?"

"Fine."

"Really." He said, pouring a cup of coffee for himself and refilling hers without asking. "I certainly would be able to tell that from the dark shadows under your eyes." Kol grinned toothily when Caroline prodded the skin under her eyes with a soft curse. "Did my brother keep you up last night?"

"He wishes." She replied shortly, and Kol chuckled, sitting down next to the girl who put the paper back with a sigh.

"Need help translating, lamb?"

"I'm perfectly capable, thank you." Caroline snipped.

"Fine," Kol said, leaning back. "How about you read out a section then?"

"Sure." She said with forced enthusiasm. She straightened out the newspaper, cleared her throat, and began to read out in faltering, American-accented Italian.

"Un recente studio si è scoperto che le persone, le coppie in particolare, che scopare a paradiso e di viaggio – " Caroline stopped to frown at Kol, who had almost spit out his coffee over the table before choking it down and letting a loud laugh escape his lips. "What?"

"Just read it out again, please."

"Un recente studio si è scoperto che le persone, le coppie in particolare, che scopare a para – "

Kol was on the floor now in whooping hysterics. Caroline stood from her chair, starting to get worked up.

"What is so funny?"

"I have to agree, Kol." Klaus said, halting by the door as Kol lay sprawled on the floor before him. "What is so hilarious that it would send you into fits of laughter and frustrate our guest?"

Caroline huffed with her hands on her hips, and Klaus sent a wink her way.

"Caroline, my sweet, please, just one more time, repeat the article." Kol pleaded in a wheeze, ignoring his brothers glare at the pet name towards 'his girl'.

Caroline sent a similar glare to the younger Mikaelson, but complied. "Un recente studio si è scoperto che le persone, le coppie in particolare, che scopare a paradiso e –" Caroline stopped and lightly stomped a foot in irritation as Kol hooted and cackled again. "What is it?!" She looked to Klaus who was biting back a smirk, and it distracted her momentarily before she remembered that she was being laughed at.

"Love, let me see the article?"

Before Caroline could pass the paper to him, or even blink, he was behind her, leaning slightly over her to read the article over her shoulder. His breath threaded through her hair and she bit her lip and tried to focus on the Italian print in front of her.

"Read it out with me?" He said, and she could hear the smile in his voice, but she decided it would be educational to figure out what was so hilarious about her poor Italian skills.

"Un recente studio," Crap. Klaus' Italian sounded sexy in her ear. Caroline exhaled and forced her hands to remain on the table.

"Un recente studio," She repeated.

"Si è scoperto che le persone,"

"Si è scoperto che le persone,"

"Le coppie in particolare," Klaus purred, placing his large hands over hers and making her breath catch.

"Le coppie in particolare," Caroline managed as they both ignored Kol's scoff.

"Here it comes." He said, and Caroline couldn't tell if he was referring to the couple in front of him or the language they were speaking.

"Che scappare a paradiso."

"Che scopare a paradiso."

Kol guffawed loudly, while Klaus chuckled lowly in her ear, and Caroline found herself both irritated and turned on.

"Slower then," Klaus murmured languidly, and she jolted her elbow backwards into his ribs.

"Che scappare"

"Che scopare"

More laughter.

"Alright, what is so funny?" Caroline growled.

"Sweetheart, scappare," Klaus said, underlining the word with his finger while rolling the 'r' in a way that made her want to roll his tongue against hers. "means to escape."

"Of course." Caroline answered. "That's why its an article about escaping on holidays."

"Oh I don't think that's what you were saying, darling." Kol chortled, biting into a slice of cantaloupe.

"Har de har, you clown." Caroline stuck her tongue out at him with a frown.

"Say scappare."

"Scopare."

Kol laughed.

"All right, I'm going to throttle you in a second." Caroline threatened with a growl that just made Kol smirk.

"You'll what, scopare me?"

"Enough, Kol." Klaus snarled lowly, and Caroline scowled.

"What is going on?"

"Scappare is to escape, scopare," She could feel Klaus smirk against her ear before the teeth scraped her lobe gently. "means to fuck."

"What?" Her eyes widened.

"To screw, in slightly more gentile terms."

"Oh god…then I wasn't saying something about couples escaping to paradise…I was saying something about – "

"Something slightly different, yes." Kol grinned, and Caroline blushed.

"Urgh, that's so embarrassing." She said, tilting her head back to rest on Klaus' shoulder.

"I suppose I'll just have to teach you Italian properly, then." Klaus said, brushing a kiss on her long neck.

"I have not had enough coffee for this." Kol grunted, pouring more into his cup.

"Speak for yourself, I haven't even had my morning caffè Italiano." Rebekah chimed in, strutting in immaculately as always and taking the pot from Kol. "Morning, slut." She called towards Caroline, who gave her a scowl.

"Not very kind to our guest, Rebekah." Elijah chided, carrying in a plate of bruschetta and toast. "Good morning, fair Caroline."

"Morning Elijah." Caroline smiled warmly, attempting to leave Klaus' embrace to help his older brother carry in the food, but Klaus snatched her back at the last minute and wrapped his arms around her waist so she was trapped with her back pressed against his beautifully sculpted chest once more.

"Do you mind?" She said, not quite irritated.

"Not at all." He crooned, nibbling the tip of her ear so she squirmed slightly, trying not to embarrass herself in front of his family along with everything else.

"Well I mind." Kol made a retching noise and Klaus scowled at him.

"Terribly sorry, Kol, but I couldn't give a damn."

"Can we just be a polite family for one minute?" Elijah said under his breath.

"Apparently not." Rebekah huffed, managing to extract Caroline from Klaus' embrace and sitting between the two so the family could get some peace and food into them and start the day.

"So what would you like to do today, Caro?" Rebekah asked when their plates were empty and before Klaus could get a word in.

"I don't even know…" Caroline said, not certain about what to do in Tuscany, Italy, at the Mikaelsons freaking villa, no less.

"The vineyards always nice this time of year…we could take a walk through there, or maybe just a swim in the stream, or even take a drive and go to the cliffs and beaches…" Rebekah started musing aloud, waiting for one of the ideas to take Caroline's fancy.

"I know exactly what would be good for today." Klaus interjected, mouthing something to Rebekah before Caroline could catch what he was thinking.

"Oh, definitely." Rebekah beamed, looking to her other brothers for their reactions. "Kol?"

"Count me in, this will be very entertaining."

"Elijah?"

"Not this time, sister." He said, and she pouted. "I have some matters to attend to, but I promise, another time."

"Very well then. Shall we?" Rebekah stood with her plate and strutted off to the kitchen. Caroline, used to cleaning up after quick meals while her mom rushed off to the night shift at the station, started gathering up plates and following Rebekah to put them in the sink. The three Original brothers looked at each other oddly, and when Caroline returned for the other dishes, Elijah immediately jumped up to help her, shooting a condescending look at his younger siblings. Klaus raised a mocking eyebrow and rose, grabbing Kol by the collar to make him rise from his seat too.

"Lets go get everything ready for Rebekah's little adventure."

Rebekah sat on the kitchen counter while Caroline rinsed the plates in the sink.

"What on Earth are you doing?"

"Cleaning. Tidying up. You know," Caroline looked at her with a hint of mock but also playful teasing. "Just peasant work."

"Don't give me that, I did a couple of centuries work like that." Rebekah scoffed, and Caroline was reminded of just how old the teenage vampire girl was. She had existed in a time where they believed in Norse Gods, where witchcraft was a normal and yet slightly feared practice, where you either cooked and cleaned or you starved and sickened. "I just was wondering why you continued such a human practice when one of our own hired help would be able to do that."

"I like it, in a weird way." Caroline said, stacking the dishes on the empty drying rack. "It keeps me normal, reminds me of humanity. Plus I don't see the point of not doing stuff like this if I'm going to exist till the end of eternity. You know me, I'd feel useless and get bored very quickly."

"Whatever." Rebekah sighed, grabbing Caroline's wrist after she had finished and dried her hands, and tugging her out through the corridor onto the back patio.

"So what do you have planned?" Caroline said when they reached a spot Rebekah must have deemed worthy.

"You'll see." She answered, before tilting her head to hear something she must have been listening out for. She smiled, and it instantly set Caroline on high alert. When Rebekah smiled, you knew you were in for a wild ride.

And boy was she.

Klaus and Kol rounded the corner and started walking along the dusty dirt path towards them. With four horses in tow. Four horses.

Caroline had to pinch herself. No, she wasn't dreaming. Yes, this was really happening. It was a dream come true. She had wanted this since she was a little girl. How did Klaus remember these things about her? How did he just know exactly the ways to worm herself into her heart? Her fingers hooked around the band and glass bead he had given her like an anchor. He had read her well back then by understanding her liking for sentimental gifts with meaning. It had seemed so long ago, but he had still continued to read her like the back of his hand, and she was beginning to wonder if anything could push him away. She didn't want it to.

The two men stopped, the horses shifting their weight impatiently, and Rebekah immediately joined them. Caroline stayed where she was on the patio while Rebekah went to Kol and ran her hand over the neck of the beautiful caramel colored horse he held the reigns to.

"Hello, lovely, how are you?" She cooed, before smoothly hooking her foot into the stirrup and swinging herself up into the saddle. Kol did the same to join her on his own bay horse.

"Are you planning on joining us, Caro, or are you going to stand there gawking all day?"

"Very funny," She snipped, but her palms were still clammy.

"Suit yourself. Kol and I are going to start on the track. We'll see you in a few."

"Nervous?" Klaus asked intuitively, tying the reigns of both horses to a post and making his way over to her once more. Caroline gulped, wishing she didn't look so weak, but with the way Klaus was looking at her so honestly with pure blue wide eyes, she knew that if there was anyone she could say anything to, it was Niklaus.

"I haven't been on a horse for a decade…and even though I'm taller than I used to be and I'm kitted out with immortal-crazy-vampire-skills, I'm still a little apprehensive."

"It'll be okay, sweetheart. I'll be here."

"I can't believe you just said that." She scoffed, and Klaus did see the slight humor in his words, but looked directly into her eyes.

"I meant it." He said slowly and purposefully, extending his hand to Caroline when he saw his words hit home.

Klaus led her over to a sweet looking grey horse. "This is Celeste. She is almost as lovely as you, and – "

"Does that mean she's also willing to step on your feet?"

"Naturally." He said good naturedly, waiting for her nod before continuing. "She wont throw you or do anything ill tempered. She is yours." He said, watching Caroline as she went from nervously gazing at the horse to staring at him.

"Seriously?"

"Am I ever anything but?"

"More often than most would think." She added in an undertone, watching him smile so his dimples showed.

"Lets try this now, shall we?" He slowly raised their joined hands to come and rest on the muzzle of the horse, and Klaus let her hand go so it sat gently on the beautiful mare's snout. Caroline timidly smoothed her hand over the velveteen nose, giggling as Celeste snorted and blew warm air softly onto her face.

"She likes you." Klaus murmured, his hand moving to her lower back and pushing her forward. Caroline looked Celeste right in the eye and saw the beautiful honey brown eyes of the mare looking right back, intelligent as anything could ever be. She smiled, feeling more confident by the minute.

Until Klaus informed her that it was time to actually sit on the horse.

"Not happening." Caroline shook her blonde curls, her nerves returning. "I don't even remember the first thing. I'm just going to put the wrong foot in and end up backwards."

"Love, if you wanted my help, all you had to do was ask." Klaus purred, sliding over to her and placing a hand on her waist, one hand sliding down her thigh. "Lift up this leg."

Caroline raised an eyebrow at him, but cocked her leg anyway so his hand rested on her knee. He slid it down further to encircle her ankle, rubbing soothing circles that made her breath catch.

"Now place this," Klaus flashed a lopsided smirk at her. "darling little foot in the stirrup here."

Caroline did as he asked, and he slid his hand up her leg once more to settle under her thigh.

"Are you ready?"

Was Caroline ready? She read into the question much more than necessary, but that was what she did best. Regardless, she knew the answer. She nodded. She still wasn't prepared for what Klaus did as he suddenly tightened his grip on her waist and leg and she was lifted onto Celeste, who shifted slightly underneath her as Caroline placed the other foot in the stirrup and adjusted to the odd feel of the saddle beneath her. Everything was further away and she felt odd, but she felt good, sitting on top of the world and feeling wonderful. Feeling empowered. Feeling herself again. Her full self.

Her emotions must have shown on her face like bright paint across a blank canvas, because when she looked back down to where Klaus still stood, a hand still stroking her ankle, he had a smile on his face, like he was a blind man seeing the sunlight for the first time.

"How are you feeling?" He asked once he blinked and broke the spell.

"Fantastic." Caroline smiled, blushing slightly when she realized that it was such an English thing to say, for she knew where she would have picked up any kind of slang like that, and she seriously didn't mind. She welcomed it.

"Fantastic." Klaus echoed back to her, making certain that she knew he had caught her. His thumb swirled around her ankle one last time before he slipped the reigns into her hands and went to his own midnight black horse.

"Remember enough of the ropes, sweetheart?"

"Please," Caroline threw her head back with a laugh that bubbled so playfully. "Lets see if you can catch me." She nudged Celeste into movement and started down the track she saw Rebekah and Kol leave down moments before. Once she heard Klaus start behind her, she kicked up the pace, flying down the track. It really was like riding a bike, she remembered everything. Celeste's legs pumped beneath them, and Caroline swore she could sense the mare's excitement at moving faster and faster like the wind.

The track dipped till they reached a vineyard, and Caroline urged Celeste on faster. She heard and then saw Klaus on his dark horse in the next row, and she kept encouraging her mare to gallop faster and beat him to the end of the posts. Celeste seemed just as competitive as her rider, not wanting to back down or give up on a challenge. They reached the end – Caroline knew she was ahead by at least two feet – and stormed on the path again, climbing one of the hills again.

When they crested at the top, Caroline stopped to take in the view and rest Celeste, whose great lungs were moving rhythmically under her legs. Klaus did the same, slowing to a walk and then completely stilling his horse beside hers.

"You…lost…" Caroline panted slightly. She had forgotten just how much of a physical activity horse riding was.

"I let you." Klaus said, a little out of breath himself. "But the view is worth it."

They were just on top of a lovely hill that looked out to the picturesque acres of property, more vineyards and paddocks dotted here and there, and far off near the horizon, the stone squares of the city and its bright blue sea. It was a scene that belonged on a postcard, and Caroline had to keep blinking to prove she was truly here.

"Come, love, lets keep moving." Klaus said, continuing forwards, and Caroline followed. They met with Kol and Rebekah further along, bickering as usual.

"Caro, thank God." Rebekah greeted. "Tell my idiotic brother Kol that you'd rather go through the paddocks than the trees."

"Please, Bekah, anyone would rather forests."

"I'm with Beks here, Kol." Caroline said, shrugging when he frowned at her. "Its just nicer."

"See? Its just nicer." Rebekah repeated. "I always knew I liked you, Caro-poppet."

Caroline made a face. "Okay, aside from the many things I could bring up with that one line, like how you have not always liked me, I'll just start with the worst. Why poppet?"

"You're the younger one." Kol said, but Klaus shook his head.

"Not quite."

"Wait, I'm somewhere around November, though that's not what we used to call it. What are you?" Rebekah asked.

"September." Caroline turned to Klaus. "How did you know it was my birthday on that day anyway? Wait, no, I don't think I want to know."

"No, you do not." Klaus said, before smiling winningly at her. "You need to remember, my dear – I know everything."

"Almost everything." Caroline corrected with a smile before turning back to Rebekah. "So I'm technically seventeen and six months, Beks. And you are?"

"Seventeen and three months."

"So I'm the older one, so why the poppet?"

"I'm a thousand years older, human age doesn't matter with that, poppet." Rebekah sniffed, and Caroline pouted.

"So unfair."

Klaus leaned over to press his lips to the skin next to her ear, one finger easing her lip out of its pout. "You stay with me, little one, and you can have all the power you'd like." He murmured, and she turned and looked him in the eye.

"We'll see. I don't think that deal has enough for me anymore." She nudged her heels into Celeste's sides and cantered forward, separating from the Originals and continuing forward through the long stretch of paddock before them.

Klaus went to follow her forward but Kol grasped the reigns before he could do so. He shot his brother a glare.

"What, Kol?"

"I don't think you should follow unless you're willing to do as she asks."

"He's right," Rebekah chimed.

Klaus looked between his two younger siblings. "What on Earth do you know that I don't?"

"Perhaps you need your ears cleaned, my charming brother, but she said that she needs more. And in most relationships where someone needs more, its usually accompanied by a declaration." Kol watched the realization hit Klaus. "You need to choose between keeping her and losing her."

"Question is, are you ready for something like that, Nik?" Rebekah asked, and he swallowed before looking at both of them once more.

"What would either of you know about any of this?" Klaus shot in his usual scathing manner, aiming to hurt.

"More than someone as heartless as you could." Rebekah said just as bitingly, knowing that Klaus was just trying to hide his own confusion. "I can see that she's reaching what little heart you have left, and that she could even make it grow if you let her close enough. But she's not going to wait around forever to get what she deserves in return."

"Which is what?"

"Your heart." Kol said simply.

Klaus was frozen.

They made it back to the house eventually for a traditional Italian lunch – the largest meal of the day. The same man and woman from the night before placed antipasto dishes down and wordlessly left, leaving the family to dig in the same way again.

"Are they compelled?" Caroline asked, and Elijah literally set down the spoon of olives he had been about to place on his plate to answer her question.

"No. Truly, Miss Caroline, we do not always have to compel. The two people here are our hired help for this villa, and when we don't inhabit it, they go about their lives. We pay them enough for them to decide to continue with another job or live their life comfortably. The only place compulsion comes into play is with our true nature. They only acknowledge our vampireistic nature when necessary, cannot speak of it with anyone outside the estate, and once we leave, do not remember any of those characteristics."

"Impressive." She smiled, thankful that at least one other vampire in the house shared her morals on compulsion. Compulsion wasn't right, and the only exceptions were in instances that did more good than harm and more give than gain. Caroline always thought that if she ever took blood straight from the source again, she would have to use compulsion to ensure that the poor soul she fed upon felt no pain and wasn't too injured.

Rebekah placed some cheese from the plate she held in her hand onto Caroline's plate wordlessly for her to try, and she was brought out of her thoughts and back to the conversation.

"What plans should we make for the rest of the day?" Rebekah said, digging into her appetizers with surprising elegance.

"Marketplace?" Kol suggested with a waggle of his brow. Clearly he only wanted to escape the house to get to the outside world of Italian women.

"Pool and tanning?" Rebekah countered, rolling her eyes at Kol and looking brightly at Caroline.

"Regardless of what takes places this afternoon, Caroline, you will be accompanying me to town for dinner this evening." Klaus said, drawing everyones attention across the table to him where he sat. He speared an olive before looking over at Caroline, giving the family a reason to look to Caroline for her reaction.

"Really? And what if I don't want to accompany you?" She said in challenging tones.

Rebekah, Kol, even Elijah, all turned to see how Klaus would take her words.

"That's very cute, sweetheart, that you think it's a choice."

"Its called free will."

"And it's sweet, little one, but regardless of you not 'wanting' to accompany me, you don't have any choice in the matter." Klaus raised an eyebrow, the olive now in his mouth, and Caroline's eyes flitted to his mouth before returning to his eyes that scorched her across the table.

"What, you'll just drag me kicking and screaming into town?"

"Yes. Of course, if it was perfect, your mouth would be a little preoccupied."

"Niklaus," Elijah interjected. "Surely the girl has a say in whether or not she goes."

"And surely it is not your place, Elijah, to play knight in shining armor to yet another girl." Klaus said with a casual air, but his voice was low.

"Nik," Caroline now was the one with the warning tone in her voice. She looked to her left to see the older Mikaelson brother. "Elijah, its fine. I'll go into town with your brother," She glanced back to Klaus. "So long as he behaves."

"When do I not?" Klaus asked mockingly with a smirk.

Caroline merely rolled her eyes at him, and the topic dissolved while the first course bowls were brought out, pasta and risotto. The family tucked in again, the tennis match of Caroline and Klaus' wills momentarily pushed aside.

"Shall we hold a ball while we're still here?" Rebekah asked with almost unnerving excitement.

"What for?" Elijah asked.

"For Caroline, of course." Rebekah said evenly.

"And who would we even invite?" Kol half chuckled. "Surely not any of the human population."

"Of course not. You surely remember the neighboring vampires. Donatella and Margareta, the Costello's, some of the other ancients passing through the area."

"To hold a get together of that nature would require a serious point of interest." Kol said slowly, glancing sideways at Caroline. "And while I believe we have that, I don't know if…" He trailed off, and Elijah looked at Klaus.

"Absolutely not." Klaus said levelly, sipping the red wine laced with blood from the nearby hospital blood supply.

"Why?" Caroline said as Rebekah's face fell.

"To have these vampires in the villa would be as if we were sending a message, or announcing something." Elijah explained, and Caroline watched Klaus' face as it grew grave and his eyes no longer caught hers. Oh. He wanted to protect her. Or did he want to keep her out of sight for another reason? Perhaps she was just a plaything for now. Or perhaps she was just overanalyzing it as she usually did.

"I still think you should. You have a perfectly natural message – you're reunited as a family. Mikael is gone, and you can be at peace once more. Why not celebrate?" Caroline said, anything to get the serious kitten pout off Rebekah's face as she dragged the tagliatellepasta across her plate.

Klaus raised his eyes to look at Caroline with a mix of confusion and irritation, and she set her brows together and subtly nodded her head in Rebekah's direction, sending the silent message. Do it for your sister, you ass.

"Very well." He said begrudgingly.

"Really?" Rebekah perked up instantly.

"Would I deny you anything, sister dearest?" Klaus said with a hint of mock sweetness, and Caroline frowned once more at him, but Rebekah ignored it completely. The youngest Mikaelson chatted about details for the gathering throughout the second course of fresh fish and grilled vegetables.

Caroline alternated between listening and watching Rebekah's animated talk, and watching the other Originals reactions to their sisters' talk. Kol seemed irritated at times and bored at others and yet he also had the same gleam of excitement in his dark eyes. Elijah indulged Rebekah as well as a good older brother could, asking questions every now and again when Rebekah's lightness dimmed, and though he remained fairly distant, it was clear that he cared for Rebekah's happiness. Klaus was the most intricate combination, for Caroline could also see the anger that he hid well at Rebekah's enthusiasm for something he clearly disagreed with. However, he was allowing her to build the idea because it would not only make Rebekah happy, but also Caroline. She could see that. She could see he was making an effort. Her forgiveness just depended on what would happen when they went for dinner.

After the long lunch, Rebekah suggested they go lounge by the pool. Surprisingly, when Caroline returned to the beautiful stone patio to sit by the pool, Elijah was already there, engrossed in a book, looking the most casual she had ever seen him in long shorts.

"Elijah." Caroline greeted in a scandalized voice. "I'm shocked."

"How so, Miss Caroline?" He asked politely, looking up from his book.

"I never thought I would see you out of a suit and tie, and yet here you are, casually dressed."

"Ah, yes, well I thought such attire would be inappropriate for such fresh surroundings."

"Right you are." Caroline smiled, before stepping up to the pool and diving in with a perfect arc. She resurfaced with a sigh. "Will you be swimming today?" She called to Elijah, who had returned to his book.

"Not unless we drag him in, Caro." Rebekah replied, walking out from the house with Kol. "Elijah isn't a fan of such frivolous activities."

"That's not true, Rebekah. I have done plenty of frivolous activities." Elijah responded without looking up from his book.

"Just not many of them in the last century." Kol snickered as Rebekah dived into the pool to float next to Caroline.

"Compared to you, Kol?" Rebekah said with a grin. "You lost a century."

Kol was still a little sore about that point, but he made an effort to smile and laugh about it. "Just for that, Bekah, I'll treat you."

"What does he mean treat –" Caroline didn't get time to finish before Kol had taken a running leap for the pool and bombed into the water, sending a mini tidal wave into Rebekah and Caroline's faces.

"Thanks Kol." Rebekah spat, laughing when Caroline tackled Kol for revenge, completely disregarding any awkwardness by diving right in as if the Originals were her family as well.

After the water tussle and a more relaxed float around the pool, Caroline climbed out, wringing the water from her hair.

"A beautiful wet goddess. Perhaps Ran from Norse mythology, or simply one of the lovely sirens of the sea?" Klaus had clearly walked out of the house at the right moment. Caroline turned with all the sassiness she could muster, and was startled by how close he was.

"I'm surprised you didn't jump at an opportunity to swim and try some other suave move on me." She said once her wits returned, looking up at him with determination.

Klaus smiled softly in return. "Well, much as I do like seeing you in this state," He bent his head to press his mouth to her shoulder, catching one of the droplets of water with his tongue. She shivered, and told herself it was from her lack of clothing. "The water is not quite the right temperature for me." Klaus continued. "Or the right temperature for you, little one. You look a tad cold." He produced a towel seemingly from out of nowhere, and wrapped it snugly around her body before pressing a kiss to her temple and returning inside the house. "I will see you in a few hours, love."

"Unbearable." Caroline muttered to herself as she went to sit down in one of the deck chairs.

"That's my brother, Caroline." Elijah said, and she turned to see him watching her with his book abandoned in his lap, his hands folded ontop. "Unbearable at his best. Many other things as well, but certainly unbearable. You summed him up well."

"Thank you, I think." Caroline sighed, tugging her fingers through her damp hair and starting to plait it. "You don't approve of me being here either, I suppose."

"Its not my place to approve or disapprove, but I am happy you are." Elijah said slowly, uncertain about entering the conversation but then figuring it had to happen at some point. "You make him happy for long periods of time, and that's more than most of us can even attempt. As a brother, I could not think of anyone better for the task of ensuring my brothers happiness."

Caroline's eyes widened, and she blushed, looking down and away from Elijah's piercing gaze. "Thank you." She murmured. When she raised her eyes, she realized he had not continued though his eyes searched her like he had more to say.

"And what about as yourself, not as his brother?" Caroline asked, and Elijah seemed impressed that she had thought to think of it.

"As myself, I must say something that does not involve Niklaus' best interests."

"Go on."

"I can see you are a very intriguing young woman, Miss Caroline, and I can only imagine how much you would have grown since becoming a vampire. However, I would warn you not to jump into something like this. You must discover who you are before you find a man that compliments that persona."

Caroline took Elijah's words into account and found her response came easily.

"I think I've found a man who brings out who I am, and so it doesn't matter if he doesn't always compliment who I am, so long as he brings out who I truly am and I'm happy."

He studied her for a long moment, and she fretted that she had lost his growing approval. But then Elijah nodded once, and returned wordlessly to his book. Caroline slowly breathed out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding, and lay back to relax as much as she could on the deck chair.

Much later, she came downstairs in a simple white patterned floral dress that floated around her. Klaus was waiting for her. He extended his hand for hers, and she accepted. He pressed a quick kiss to it before smiling dangerously at her.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

They drove to town and he led her to a small family restaurant for dinner. As soon as they were seated, he looked at her very seriously.

"Caroline," He started  
"Klaus," She retorted slightly sourly.

"I'm sorry."

She hadn't expected that. She took a second longer than necessary to respond.

"Apology accepted."

Dinner progressed smoothly after that as they fell back into their easy banter and chat. They walked after their light meal, as most Italians did, and wound their way down the cliffs and hills to the beach. As they walked further and further along the shoreline, Klaus glanced around with a dimpled smile that just shouted trouble to Caroline.

"Shall we have that swim together now, love?" He said.

"Sure." She replied against her better judgment.

Klaus unbuttoned his shirt, then his pants, and set them down next to his already discarded shoes. Caroline blinked when she saw he had gone commando, but then again it somehow made sense for the Original Hybrid to not be a boxers or briefs man. He walked forward into the soft swells of the ocean and turned once he was waist deep to beckon Caroline forward.

"Come on, love, live a little."

She spared one glance down the abandoned beach in the dim twilight before slipping her dress off and letting her lace panty set join her flats, wading quickly into the sea to join Klaus.

"I cannot believe I am skinny dipping with Niklaus Mikaelson." Caroline declared.

"And I cannot believe I am skinny dipping with one of the seductive sirens of the ocean." Klaus smiled.

Caroline rolled her eyes, and shrieked as he grasped her wrists and tugged her against him further out to sea so they were shoulder deep. He looked at her trapped against his chest but made no move to kiss her, just breathing in the same air she breathed out. Their fingers wound together and stroked tiny roving patterns on each others palms, so intricate and delicate but powerful all the same.

They felt like they could stay that way for eternity, and even though they didn't, they spent more time than necessary just reveling in the way their legs tangled and their bodies were drawn together by the movement of the bright blue ocean currents.

When they made it back to the house, Caroline was exhausted, and she stumbled to her room.

"Where are you going, sweetheart?" Klaus said like a low accusation, and she turned to see him halfway between her room and his.

"To bed."

"Alone?"

"Yes." She saw his confusion and sighed, walking over to place a hand on his chest. "You apologized, and I accepted your apology. But I haven't forgiven you yet." She brushed a kiss across his stubbled jaw. "Goodnight, Niklaus."

It pained her to leave him for another sleepless night on her own, but she knew the power would go to his smug head if she instantly forgave him and slept with him just because he'd said two words. Granted, Caroline doubted he had ever said those words as honestly as he had to her, but she wouldn't give up. She needed a bit more leverage in their weird relationship.

Caroline was startled from her thoughts as she lay in bed by a noise that sounded like a man in pain. She checked the clock by her bed to see that it was just past one o'clock in the morning. She sat up and wondered if it was just her imagination but she heard it again, that groan that sounded almost like the living dead. Not being one to back down from anything easily, Caroline moved to the hallway, trying to figure out the source of the noise just as a sudden agonizing scream was heard.

It was coming from Klaus' room.

Her brow furrowed in confusion as Rebekah stumbled out of her own room, half asleep. She spotted Caroline and sighed.

"Can you do it?" Rebekah mumbled.

"Do what?" Caroline asked, just as another frightening groan of pain sounded.

"Comfort him. He's having the nightmares again."

"What?"

"Nightmares. They happen every once in a while. Surely you knew about them?" Rebekah asked.

Caroline had not heard them. Any time they had shared a bed, it was she who had the nightmares that he had helped her conquer. Now she had to do the same for him.

"Sure, I'll help him. You go back to bed, Beks."

"Thanks Caro. Night."

Rebekah shuffled back to her room, and Caroline faced the door, took a breath, and opened it slowly.

Klaus was entangled in his sheets, thrashing as if he were fighting a monster. The noises made perfect sense now – it was the sound of a man fighting his own personal demons.

"No…please…" His voice was not laced with its usual dark tones, it almost sounded a few years younger, and full of the insecurities Caroline knew he hid very well now. She closed the door behind her and rushed to wrap her arms around him and try to still him. She had never had to do something like this for someone, and she worried. Those random documentaries on television talked about some sort of damage happening if you woke up a person incorrectly, but what was she supposed to do? Just sit and wait it out?

"Please…" Klaus panted, his eyes tightly shut, and she held him and stroked the furrows from his brow, knowing she would have to wait it out. She couldn't shake him from the dream.

Wait.

She couldn't shake him from the dream, but she could perhaps enter it and help him fight off the monsters in his head.

Caroline closed her eyes and pressed her lips to Klaus' damp temple, and gently forced herself into his dream.

She had expected something odd, like swirls and creatures cloaked in shadow and whatnot. She hadn't expected a memory. Klaus was fighting his father in a clearing of trees that looked like a scene out of Mystic Falls, only they were dressed in leathers and britches and linen shirts. And Klaus was at least six years younger in human years than he was now, looking closer to Caroline's age. Mikael was not holding back from what should have been a simple training session with his son, a hatred brewing in his eyes as he lashed forward towards Klaus.

"You are a good for nothing lump," He spat, as Klaus failed to meet the swing of the sword and it clipped his shoulder painfully.

"A useless waste of space," Klaus was knocked to the ground and held under his fathers boot as the sword hovered over his throat.

"You are nothing. Nothing." Mikael snarled with disgust, grinding his foot into Klaus' shoulder painfully before turning and walking away, leaving him alone.

The scene morphed around Caroline and she saw Rebekah crying, her arms stretched in front of her and her hands clenched into fists. Mikael stood before her with something in his hand. Caroline cringed when she recognised it as a cane.

"Rebekah," He said in a warning tone, and she shook, trying to hold back her tears while she opened her palm to take the lashes.

"No!" Klaus ran forward. "She didn't do anything. Don't."

Mikael glared at him. "Then someone did something, Niklaus. So you must be to blame."

Klaus gritted his teeth and tilted his head, raising his arm to take the lashes. Mikael narrowed his eyes and spun Klaus so his back faced him. Rebekah crumpled to the ground as Klaus received the lashes to his back, the blood seeping through the poorly woven material. Caroline shook with her own barely held sobs.

The scene shifted again to one that was clearly not a true memory. Mikael stood before a Klaus who was exactly the same as he was today, only he looked harsher, more like the Klaus who had arrived in Mystic Falls before Mikael's death. Caroline was shocked to see a vision of herself trapped with rope and gagged at Mikaels feet.

"You really thought someone cared about you? You? The abomination?"

"Spare her, or I will tear you limb from limb." Klaus snarled, but she could see true fear on his face.

Clearly so could Mikael, who sneered. "She doesn't care, Niklaus. She doesn't care. But its so amusing that you thought she even could. Who could care about you? Why would they?"

"If you hurt her, you will beg for death before I'm finished with you." Klaus growled.

"No matter," Mikael continued as if he couldn't hear Klaus. "Its not her care that will ruin you. Its yours." He raised a wooden stake, and Caroline could only watch, just as frozen in place as Klaus, as Mikael plunged it through the vision of Caroline that was trapped at his feet.

"No," Both Klaus and Caroline gasped in unison, startling awake.

Caroline kept her arms around Klaus even as he thrashed against the disappearing memories of his dream, waiting for him to become quiet and realize that she was holding him, stroking his damp strands of short curls away from his forehead, murmuring a stream of soothing words in his ear even as her own voice shook slightly at what she had seen. He had not screamed for any of those memories, so she could only imagine what other horrors she hadn't been there to witness.

Klaus' breathing stabilized, and he wrapped his own arms around Caroline, for her comfort and his.

"I'm not going anywhere, Nik." She murmured, and felt the tension leave his body as his one main concern vanished. "I'm not leaving."

He stroked the same soothing patterns on her back that she stroked on his, and eventually untangled the sheet with his other hand so they were both comfortably beneath the sheet.

"Why didn't you tell me about the nightmares?" She whispered, and he didn't even look ashamed, he looked concerned.

"I didn't want to worry you. You had nightmares of your own."

"And you helped me through them."

"And you're helping me through life."

She had no come back for that. He wasn't meant to say corny lines that went straight to her heart, but he did it anyway. He was always what she least expected and what she always understood.

"Nik?" She murmured, waiting for his eyes to open and latch onto hers in the dark. "I'm not mad anymore."

"I'm glad." He smiled as she hoped he would, with his dimples, and kissed her on the lips, and it felt like it had been so long without that touch, she welcomed it like water in the desert and it felt like the first sight of home where she always wanted to be. She'd always want him. She'd always feel at home. She'd always be with him, even if he couldn't say what she desperately needed him to say.

And somehow, he needed her and wanted her too.


	18. La Bellezza al Ballo

"I cannot believe we are actually going through with this crazy idea." Caroline said as Rebekah sat at the oak table with scattered pieces of paper, drawn out lists and invitations.

"You're the one who waved Nik's balls around to make it happen." Kol said, dodging the pencil Rebekah flicked his way. It embedded in the wall behind him and she cursed.

"Thanks, now I'm going to have to hang something up there."

"Perhaps Nik's male anatomy?" Kol grinned.

"Maybe yours. I'm inviting Eva." Rebekah grinned evilly, and Caroline watched Kol's face instantly change.

"No."

"She's in the area."

"No."

"Who's Eva?" Caroline asked, as Kol started to turn into a mini-Klaus in a temper tantrum, pacing and growling under his breath.

"It's a long story spanning over 750 years." Rebekah said.

"Geez, and I thought the Salvatores had enough girl history themselves." Caroline exclaimed, hopping up to sit on the table and watch Kol run his hands through his hair in a panic.

"She is not setting foot in this house." He grated.

"She is my friend." Rebekah snapped back.

"You have friends?" Caroline said, earning a dirty look from Rebekah. She blew a kiss her way in form of apology, and the Original blonde seemed to accept it.

"She is my friend, Kol, and she's nearby, and she is invited, and she is going to be here."

Kol spun a plate from the table into the solid wood paneling, and it smashed.

"And I'd appreciate it if you didn't destroy the house while Rebekah plans her party." Elijah said as he walked in.

"Shut it, Elijah." Kol said, and found himself pinned to the table next to Caroline with a wooden salad fork through his shoulder. Rebekah and Caroline didn't even flinch - clearly Caroline was becoming accustomed to the odd family fights around here. Elijah seemed to have barely moved an inch, moving in the opposite direction to adjust the painting Kol had managed to tilt with the plate.

"Don't be disrespectful. You know better."

"Eva is coming." Kol groaned, prying the fork from his shoulder so he could sit up.

"And how is that any reason to be rude?"

"It's every reason." Kol snarled.

"Who is Eva?" Caroline tried again, knowing Elijah would give a better recount of whatever history there was between Kol and the mysterious Eva.

"Eva is a charming young lady Kol turned sometime in the 13th Century." Elijah began.

"Shall we have a sit down dinner or just a mingled party of entrées?" Rebekah interjected.

"She and Kol have been seeing each other over the years." Elijah continued.

"Meaning that he cant get her out of his mind much as he tries." Rebekah snickered.

Kol just glared murderously at them all. "If I could snap all your necks and get away with it without Klaus coming after me too, I would."

"Lovely, Kol. Thanks." Caroline sighed. "I'm just trying to get an idea of how much of a storm this gathering will be."

"Well, no Salvatores will be present, so there's at least a good chance there wont be too much drama." Rebekah mused. "Formal or just cocktail?"

"Formal." Elijah said, and Caroline shot him a weird look.

"Now I really hope that's not just because you want to wear a nice suit."

"Very funny Miss Caroline." He said dryly. "No, formal would be better." Elijah raised an eyebrow at Rebekah, clearly trying to relate something to her through sibling telepathy. She frowned and shrugged her shoulders – clearly the telepathic connection wasn't quite working.

Elijah sighed, glancing at Caroline before deciding that she would need to hear this too. "If Caroline makes this appearance with us, it is sending a message to the supernatural community that she stands with us, that she is under our protection, and she is Klaus'…companion. Formal would be best."

"Ah, I see exactly what you mean." Rebekah nodded, her mind already racing forward. "We'll pick out the perfect gown, and everything. It'll be fantastic."

"What I meant was also to warn you, Caroline." Elijah said. "Are you ready for this?"

"Yes." Caroline said, trying to sound braver than she was really feeling. Clearly it was the right thing to say, as she saw the approving nod from Elijah, the bright smile from Rebekah and the lighter look on Kols face, considering he was in a dark hole of emotion with the knowledge that Eva would be in the same area as him. The most comforting gesture was received from the hands that claimed her waist from the back. Klaus smiled the crook of her neck as her fingers threaded through his and pulled his arms closer around her, bringing their bodies together innocently.

"Where have you been?" Caroline asked him quietly, letting Kol go back to ranting to Rebekah about how she couldn't invite someone who he had that much history with and how Elijah couldn't lecture him on manners when Klaus had done far more terrible things.

"I was busy."

"With what?"

"Something I know you'll like."

"Really?"

He chuckled. "No need to sound so skeptical, love." Klaus twirled her under one of their joined hands and backed away from his family with her in tow. Caroline was suddenly reminded of the decade dance, and she couldn't tell whether it was something about just the move or the way his eyes were focused so intently on hers or whether she wanted to follow him regardless of whether he was leading her to a dance floor or to another room or even to Hell, because she would gladly follow him anywhere.

"So then if there's no need to be skeptical, why lead me away from everyone?" She narrowed her eyes playfully as they walked to the lounge, out of sight from his siblings.

"You've judged it correctly, I've got devilish intentions."

"You always have devilish intentions." She giggled as he grinned wolfishly and kissed her, making her knees weak and her head swim. She didn't pay much attention until she felt a weight around her neck and his lips brushing a path down to her collarbone.

"What's this?"

Klaus smiled, turning Caroline to face a mirror that hung above one of the couches of the living room. She raised her hands to touch the pendant that he had hung around her neck, fingering the thin delicate swirls of silver that held it in place.

"It's a tigers eye. Legends say that Roman soldiers wore these to battle to protect themselves. I can confirm that."

"You were in a battle?"

Klaus looked at her through the mirror from where he stood behind her. "I was in all of them."

She rolled her eyes and he raised his eyebrows in his trademark move.

"Any reason you're giving me this?"

"In the hopes that it will bring one of my favorite people some protection." He mused, fiddling with the clasp at the base of her neck and trailing his fingers along the bumps of her spine.

Caroline smiled at the casual mention of her being in his high regard, but she couldn't shake the protective feelings. "Am I in need of protection?" She asked his reflection with a hint of fierceness edging her voice.

Klaus exhaled slowly and raised his head to meet her gaze. "Sweetheart, in a house of Original vampires who cannot be killed save for one White Oak stake that Elijah has smartly hidden with us here, you are by far the most vulnerable thing here."

"Thanks for sugar coating it." She said sarcastically, earning a scowl from him.

"Forgive me for wanting to protect you, love." He snapped right back. "Its something you do for those you care about."

"And seeing as you can't stick a dagger in me without me dying, you thought you'd just stick an amulet on me?"

Klaus spun her around and gripped her by the shoulders. "It is a gift, love. Nothing else. I just figured you would appreciate the meaning behind it." One hand wound down her arm to trace around the glass bead she still wore, reminding her of the first gift from him that she had properly kept. "Just wear it as a token of how I want to keep you safe. How you mean that much to me."

Caroline looked up at him and how he was giving her his serious look, one part bad-ass-hybrid, two parts caring. It was an updated version from when she had first started out with him, so she had to give him credit. Plus it was very difficult to disagree with him when he was being so openly caring for a rare change.

"Then thank you." She replied sincerely, reaching up to give him a soft, innocent kiss. To her surprise he didn't turn it into a passionate one as usual. Instead he cupped her face delicately in his artist hands, the rough patches from painting harsh against the skin of her cheeks, and so different to the gentle adoring way he pressed his lips so simply to hers. She unknowingly let a sigh whisper from her mouth when he broke away slowly. Klaus waited for her eyes to eventually flutter open again to gaze up at him before pressing another kiss to her forehead and leading her back to the rest of the family.

…

"You've got to be kidding me." Caroline backed away from the garment bag she had just unzipped in Rebekah's room, all prepared to slip out of her silk robe and put it on until she saw it for the first time. "No, no, no, no, no."

"And why, why, why, why, why?" Rebekah huffed, coming out of the ensuite bathroom with curlers she had just been about to start unwrapping from her hair.

Caroline gaped at Rebekah. "I am going to be nervous enough as it is, don't you think that this dress is a little bit much?"

"We're sending out a message tonight, Caro, you need to make a statement." Rebekah reiterated what she had been saying all week about the gathering, and took the dress out of the bag to let it air a little. "Besides, it's gorgeous."

"That I can agree with." Caroline sighed, running her eyes appreciatively over the gown. "But still, no."

"Come on, poppet."

"No." Caroline said firmly. "I helped hang the lights for the drive and the pool and the patio and even the halls and staircase, I helped with the caterer, I even helped with the invitations to the dozens of guests that I don't even know. But this is where I draw the line, you cannot choose this for me."

"Fine," Rebekah sniffed, retreating to the ensuite. "But you'll have to come out sometime to see everyone, and I wish you good luck finding another garment to wear in the house."

"What?" Caroline frowned.

"Nik warned me this would happen, so I locked up everyones wardrobes. Everyones." Rebekah repeated with a pointed look. "So there's no chance of you trecking down in my brothers clothes, or even mine. You'll either wear the dress or you'll come downstairs in the nude."

"If I wear that dress it will be practically like I'm in the nude!" Caroline exclaimed.

"You're hungry too, aren't you." Rebekah taunted, needing to drive the point home. "And I've got a nice warm bag of B+ here, just for you. But only if you agree to the dress."

"You suck." Caroline hissed, storming down the hall.

"All part of being a vampire, Caro." Rebekah called.

Klaus opened the door from his bathroom to find Caroline lying on his bed staring at the ceiling.

"Not that I don't like the intrusion, love, but what's the matter?" He asked, wrapping a towel around his waist.

"Your sister is a very manipulative minx." She huffed with her arms folded.

"Wonderful alliteration, but you're still stating the obvious." He said as he walked over.

"She is trying to make me walk down the stairs to this gathering naked."

"Well I for one wouldn't mind that." Klaus murmured, chuckling as Caroline reached out, caught his hand, and pulled him down to lie next to her.

"Again, everyone would be seeing me naked. Everyone."

"Fine, then you can just be naked here."

"Bite me."

"I intend to." He smiled, nibbling her lips.

"I'm just going to have to wear the dress, aren't I?" Caroline sighed, humming when Klaus kissed his way down her neck to nibble again at her collarbone.

"Rebekah's my sister, and, well, you've met me, love. You know how stubborn I am, so is she."

"The dress is too sexy." She complained, rolling on top of Klaus to pepper kisses across his bare chest. "I will put it to shame."

"You are too sexy." He said, running his hands down her arms as she sat back with her legs crooked either side of him. "You'll put the dress to shame."

"All the more reason not to wear it."

"You would look lovely in a hessian sack, sweetheart." Klaus said. "Just wear whatever it is that my terrible sister is making you wear and make her green with jealousy."

Caroline smiled, leaning down to kiss him again. He twisted so she was underneath him, and let his hands fall to the tie in her robe. Unfortunately, Caroline still had enough oxygen to know that it wouldn't be wise to start doing what they would both like to do.

"Come on, I've got to get changed."

"Oh, now you want to wear the dress."

"You just had a shower anyway."

"That I did." Klaus grinned, and shook his wet hair so droplets rained down on Caroline, who shrieked and rolled from side to side, trying to escape.

"You're a bad man."

"The worst." He smiled despite his words, and reluctantly let her go.

"Nik, do you mind leaving whatever weird torment you have planned for Caroline till after the party?" Rebekah snapped, standing in the doorway with a hand over her eyes just in case.

"Wow, didn't know we were inviting Medusa." Kol called from the corridor, and Rebekah turned to flip the bird at him.

"I'll see you, love." Klaus pressed a kiss to Caroline's palm as he helped her up from his bed. "I'll know to look out for the most stunning woman in the room."

"And I'll try to find a man with better lines." Caroline teased, kissing the shadowy look away from his face and skipping out to Rebekah's room.

"Thanks, for once you're the one to put her in a better mood rather than the other way round." Rebekah quipped, flashing a brief smile before joining the baby vampire.

…

"I cant feel my legs."

"Then you should have practiced in the heels beforehand."

"I feel like everything is about to fall out of this dress."

"The only thing that is about to fall out is your nerves. Bundle up and follow me."

Rebekah sashayed easily down the stairs to stop on the landing and look at the trio of Mikaelson men gathered in the hall. "Gentlemen, first of all, may I present myself." She did a little twirl, unable to stop being the little adored sister even for one night. Her lovely black lace beaded dress twirled around with her, draping prettily and outlining her figure but somehow still being elegant with its high boat neckline. She tossed back her sleek blonde head, not a hair escaping from her low tucked bun.

The brothers hated to say it, but they loved their sister and would gladly indulge her, so they smiled genuinely.

"And now, may I introduce you to our wonderful, charming Caroline." Rebekah beckoned Caroline into view, and she took a deep breath and floated down the staircase.

Breathtaking. That was the one word to describe Caroline. Breathtaking. The light gold dress floated around her, clinging to each curve in such an ethereal way. The long sleeves and soft scooping neckline added to the elegance along with the sparkling jewels that created intricate swirls across the dress. It wasn't until she turned on the landing next to Rebekah that the back was revealed. Or the lack thereof. The dress tapered down from her shoulders to the lowest point of the small of her back, the edges embellished with the same delicate detailed jewels as the front. Her sweeping plaited updo drew all the attention to the perfect porcelain skin on display.

Klaus' mouth went dry. He seriously contemplated just taking her back upstairs. Especially when she turned and looked at him from under her lashes.

"What do you think?" Caroline asked them all, but she was really asking him.

"Words fail me." Klaus responded simply, and as a blush graced her cheeks he was reminded of who she was, and the bizarre hold he seemed to have over her in return. He held out his hand to her, and she took it to descend the last three steps to stand by his side.

"You're breathtaking." He murmured sincerely, brushing a reverent kiss across her knuckles, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Thank you." She smiled softly, straightening his tie that matched the light gold of her dress: clearly Rebekah had done a little wrangling fashion wise beforehand. It contrasted perfectly with his dark grey suit and equally dark grey shirt. "You clean up well yourself." Caroline noted.

"Thank you, love." He said quietly.

"Don't I get a mushy compliment too?" Kol interjected, and Rebekah smacked him across the back of the head while she held Elijah's offered hand to descend the last few steps. "Ow!"

"Be nice." Elijah said sternly, entering the family tussle for once rather than taking the neutral view. "And behave too. The guests will be here any moment."

"What can I do to help?" Caroline asked, and Klaus wound a hand around her to rest on the small of her lower back, right above the edge of the dress line.

"Stay by my side."

"Surprisingly, Nik's plan is probably best." Rebekah said.

"Surprisingly?" Klaus repeated incredulously. "I'm very rarely wrong."

Caroline elbowed him and he smirked.

"Hilarious, Niklaus." Elijah said dryly, but any further words were cut off by the entrance of one of the hired staff for the night.

"Sir? The guests are starting to arrive." The young man said, waiting for a nod from Elijah before exiting just as smoothly as he had come.

"All right. Behave." Elijah warned Kol one last time before the doors opened and the party began.

Caroline was perfectly organised and clearly had been in training to be a presidents wife while she was human – Miss Mystic Falls thank you very much – but even all of her built up and natural talents couldn't prepare her for the events of that night.

First off, she was surprised to see how Klaus interacted with everyone. She had forgotten the harsh, cold man he could be. He was so different around her, and even if he was a little sharp with his family, it was all still done in jest. Around others, however, his mask came back, the one he had carefully crafted over the years so he was something to be feared and respected. She then also knew that since she was by his side, she would need to create a similar aura, and that nerved her a little, but she did so easily, drawing herself up to her full height so she was the picture of refined elegance and grace.

Secondly, she was surprised to see the vampires. She had never been in the company of vampires other than those found in Mystic Falls, and it was curious to see how they mingled with one another.

Thirdly, she wondered how Rebekah had subtly let the word get around about Caroline's involvement with the Mikaelsons, specifically Klaus, for it seemed as if she was constantly under someone's scrutinizing gaze. Klaus only egged it on, his hand never leaving the small of her back, keeping her pressed to his right side as promised.

"Caroline?" Rebekah said to her right, bringing the girl back to focus. The baby vampire blinked, setting her smile back in place and nodding to the guest she had been talking to with Rebekah. The Oriental woman smiled, dipping her head as well and turning to rejoin the party. Caroline had completely forgotten what she had been talking about.

"Focus, love." Klaus murmured into her ear. "We're almost through the guests."

"Ah, Eva." Elijah greeted warmly, and Caroline turned her attention to the mysterious woman she had heard so much about.

A striking young woman in a deep red gown beamed at Elijah, raising her hand to greet him. "Elijah. Wonderful to see you again, it has been too long."

"We will have to have a proper chat at some point during the course of the night." He said, gesturing for her to continue and greet the rest of the family.

The lovely girl with hair like dark honey walked forward, her smile loosing its teeth as she saw Klaus. She didn't seem frightened of him, but she clearly knew that she had to show some demure respect or loose a few ribs.

"Klaus," She nodded.

"Eva," Klaus said, but he did hold a slight edge of warmth in his voice that hadn't been present with most of the guests. "May I introduce Caroline."

"Pleasure to meet you, Eva." Caroline said with a perfect smile, happy to put up the front till she knew a little more about Eva's character.

"I take it this is the Caroline that Rebekah mentioned when she handed me the invitation?" Eva said, and Caroline knew that she could talk a little more freely with this girl in particular.

"Unless there is another Caroline running around the place. Or unless Rebekah said anything too harsh. Then its all a lie."

Rebekah laughed slightly while trying to seem more outraged at Caroline's words. Eva also allowed a throaty chuckle to escape her lips.

"Well then I can say that Rebekah was being honest, for a change."

"I thought you were meant to be nice to your hosts as they welcomed you to their home." Rebekah said teasingly, and Eva looked at her from under raised eyebrows.

"I think that tradition went out the window when your brother spoiled my lovely get together a few centuries back." Eva glanced over slightly to where Kol had been standing only moments before she walked through the door. "Where is Kol anyway?"

"Somewhere around." Rebekah said dismissively, and Caroline gathered that she was on Eva's side for whatever the odd disagreement seemed to be between Eva and Kol.

"Much as I hate to interrupt this enthralling conversation," Klaus interjected with more than a hint of sarcasm. "I believe you could continue this later when we don't have a line of waiting guests to welcome."

Eva's eyes widened and she nodded slowly. Caroline was surprised to see the attitude and confidence leave the bubbly girl, but the sly wink she gave Rebekah as she walked away was enough to show that she just knew to not test Klaus.

"I'll be right back, I'm just going to go find Kol…and kill him." Rebekah muttered to Caroline under her breath, walking away through the throngs of people.

"Caroline, this is Alexander." Klaus tapped one of his fingers lightly on the small of her back to draw her attention to the platinum blonde vampire in front of them. His eyes were a pale shade of blue, like shards of ice set in his deceptively sweet Norwegian-looking face. Caroline tried not to judge, but something about Alexander set her off. She brushed it aside and smiled.

"Charmed." She said.

"I'm sure you are." Alexander grinned cockily, and Klaus' fingernails scraped along her lower back possessively.

"Klaus, you never said you had taken a baby vampire into your…ah…care." Alexander said, his eyes flashing over Caroline's form in a way that made her want to shift closer to Klaus, but she held her ground and didn't show her fear.

"That's because I didn't ever mention her to the likes of you." Klaus said coolly,

"True. Why would anyone bring up such a vulnerable point." Alexander smiled at Caroline. "Even if it does come with such a pretty face. You can rest assured, Klaus, that I will not bring up such a potential weakness with anyone else."

"Oh, I intend to make sure you will not." Klaus replied with a hint of malice, and his voice darkened to his favored don't-screw-with-me-dipshit tone. "And she is no vulnerability. Caroline is far stronger than you'd think. She is protected." He said slowly, before Caroline smiled up at him to cover the action of her jabbing her elbow into his ribs. Klaus came out of his dark mood.

"However we can talk about such things at countless other times tonight. You're holding up the line, Alexander."

"Then I shall leave you and your lovely protected girl." He returned to more formal niceties, smoothly picking up Caroline's hand and pressing a cool kiss to it before she could do more than let her jaw go slack with shock.

Klaus moved quicker, though, reaching forward with one hand to easily snap the pointer finger of the hand that touched Caroline. No one else saw the move aside from the three vampires involved. Alexander looked at Klaus, who raised an eyebrow at him.

"Consider that a warning. She is protected." He repeated, and Alexander nodded his head in a way that should have been respectful but held a mocking edge, before he continued on into the villa, his finger already healed.

"Was that necessary?" Caroline hissed before Elijah passed the next guest on to them.

"Yes. I don't care if we've fought in battles together or if they are loyal to me – anyone who so much as looks at you like a piece of meat or without respect is going to pay the appropriate price by my hand." Klaus was clearly still outraged at Alexander's actions, so Caroline decided to try and put him in a better mood before he started ripping hearts out.

"You can be a real sexy jerk, you know that?"

A small smile played across his grimly set mouth. "I know."

The last of the guests were ushered and welcomed in, and Elijah stood at what could be called the front of the great joined rooms that had been cleared for the gathering.

"Welcome, friends. Tonight symbolizes the night that my family has been rejoined as one before you all. Thank you all for coming to celebrate this with us as we unite at our strongest. Cheers." He purposefully didn't mention Caroline, or single out any of the family members to be certain to send the right message. Caroline could be considered as part of the family, seeing as she was standing there with them all. If he singled her out, it would draw attention to her and cause a potential upset.

Waiters circulated with delicacies – Rebekah decided against the sit down dinner – and conversation buzzed. Klaus didn't let Caroline leave his side as they talked to various vampires from all walks of life. Caroline found out how little she knew of both the real world and the Mikaelson world. The Originals truly were one of the reigning supernatural powers, and it was somehow just not questioned. Or at least those who questioned it were taken care of to not speak of it again. It should have frightened her, but she had seen their playful side, and she understood that it was something not everyone was privileged to see.

She was most comfortable however when Rebekah and Eva appeared by her side, and Klaus stepped away.

"Some unfinished business, but I will return shortly, sweetheart." He said quietly, kissing her palm rather than her knuckles as he left.

"Interesting." Eva mused, watching Caroline watch Klaus move through the crowd.

"How so?" Caroline asked before returning her gaze to Eva's hazel eyes.

"Just how he is around you. I will be frank, I've never known Klaus to be gentle with anyone, even his family." Eva said, almost studying Caroline to see what made her so uniquely different.

"Oh, he's not gentle with her." Rebekah teased, and Caroline blushed.

"Thank you, Rebekah."

"You might want to watch out, Rebekah, Klaus keeps looking over." Eva noted.

"Its only because I put Caroline in a dress that would seize his attention for the whole night."

"Again, thank you, Rebekah." Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Besides, you can't tell me you didn't dress like that to make Kol insanely jealous." Rebekah said to Eva, and she patted her hair into place.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Come on." Caroline said, giving the girl a look. "You know what effect you have on him. Even I can see it." The dress certainly helped. Eva looked like a movie star with her red dress, the fiery colour contrasting with the delicate way it was cut out with intricate patterns and swans weaving through. It was the rarest possible form of sexy and classy and all out beauty that she had ever seen.

"Compared to you with Klaus. Your dress is stunning, by the way." Eva said warmly. "You look every bit the part."

"Part of what?" Caroline asked.

"Part of the Original clan. I know its scary, but you do need to look just that little bit untouchably glamorous to run around with these clowns." Eva said, and Caroline saw the flash of pain in her eyes. "I had to as well."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened with you?" Caroline blurted out before she could contain herself.

Rebekah scowled at her. "Nice, Caro, way to go on social decorum."

Eva placed a hand on Rebekah's arm. "She has a right to know, no need to get snappy." She turned to Caroline. "I was turned by Kol sometime in the 13th Century, and while I started out as a fling and then transgressed to part of the family, Kol couldn't take the pressure, and neither could I. We're birds of a feather, he and I, and we need freedom. So I've been orbiting around the Mikaelson's for years, part of it and not. I don't want to be either," Eva raised her hands to both blondes apologetically. "No offense meant. I just can't see myself being tied down, and being with an Original seems to be an eternal thing."

"You and Kol belong together." Rebekah said in a tone that told Caroline she had said this to Eva hundreds of times before. "You make him more bearable. Just like Caroline with Nik."

"Yeah, but I don't know about 'forever'." Caroline interjected, and two conflicting gazes turned to meet her – Rebekah's one of disbelief and underlying anger, Eva's one of understanding. "Klaus is a lot to handle, I'm just taking every day as it comes."

"A wise choice with him. But you seem to be faring well." Eva nodded. "Any time you need an outside opinion, I'm here if you would like to talk. Even if its just so you can talk to someone who isn't a Mikaelson."

"I'm right here, you know." Rebekah huffed, and Eva laughed, squeezing both girls hands.

"All right. Enough joviality, I need a good drink." Eva glanced at both of them. "Either of you want in?"

"I'll need hard liquor to get through the night." Rebekah sighed, turning to Caroline. "Any for you, my sweet?"

"I'm set." She said, raising her glass. Klaus had left her in want of nothing, save for being alone with him without any of the fuss and bother of the party.

"Suit yourself. We'll be back in a moment. Don't go anywhere." Rebekah said, flashing her a wide eyed look that seemed to be a cross between Damon and Klaus and was altogether too serious for the charming youngest Mikaelson. Caroline waved them off and stood alone, happy to have just a quick moment to herself while the party hummed around her.

She was not alone for long.

"Ah, the radiant Caroline, the belle of the ball." Alexander's smooth low tones graced her, and she turned to find him standing just an inch too close. She smiled with tight closed lips, hoping that the two blonde musketeers would rejoin her soon.

"I had heard of a sunbeam entering the infamous Niklaus Mikaelson's life, but you are truly something else."

"How interesting. Maybe you should go discuss that with someone else. Klaus himself, perhaps?" She knew she couldn't be too safe being so rude to an older vampire, but she was just not in the mood to play it safe.

"Perhaps." Alexander echoed, his cold eyes sizing her up. "Or perhaps you should follow me."

Caroline knew he was trying to compel her, and she was confused. He knew she was a vampire, was he supposed to have some sort of ability like the Original family? Was he that close a branch off from the bloodline that he still had that power? Or did he have a witch on his side? Regardless, the compulsion didn't work on her, and yet she wanted to know what he was up to. Against her better judgement, she nodded and followed him as he walked out to the patio.

"Good. Now a little further away. We don't want to disturb the guests."

"What are you going to do to me?" She asked in a careful monotone, wondering if she was meant to talk under the compulsion.

"Just a little message to our dear friend Klaus from a few people who haven't been pleased with his newest transformation." They walked further till they were near the vineyard she had ridden through only a week before. Alexander looked back to the lights of the villa, calculating. "I suppose this will do." He turned to Caroline again. "Now, don't scream."

Caroline knew whatever would come next wouldn't be enjoyable. She was right. Alexander pulled out a simple wooden stake from his elegant suit, and smoothly wielded it at Caroline to go straight through her undead heart. She panicked, and snarled, shoving him away and starting to run. She didn't get far before she found him in front of her, hissing.

"Stay put!"

She did not do what he tried to compel her to, clawing at him and trying to escape. Caroline thought she was doing well until hands clamped around her arms and forced her to be still. She inhaled and smelt the distinct wet dog smell of werewolves, and swore.

"Shit."

"Such a rude mouth on such a pretty young thing." Alexander said lowly, pacing in front of her as he regained his breath from their squabble. "No matter. We can always silence it." He rushed towards her with the stake once again, and Caroline screamed out as it went to pierce straight and true into her heart.

But it never did.

She looked down in surprise as the stake wedged in her chest, refusing to go further than an inch, just barely scraping her heart. It was agonizingly painful, but Caroline was still alive, and she wouldn't complain about that. Alexander scowled, trying to bear his weight onto the stake to drive it through her, but it refused to move.

Before any further harm could be done, a blood-chilling howl was heard, and a jet black wolf thundered along towards them, faster than even a vampire could run. It collided with Alexander, knocking him to the ground and tearing out his throat in a matter of seconds before turning to the werewolf bodyguards holding Caroline hostage. They dropped her and immediately began their transformation, but the wolf launched himself upon them and tore them to pieces before they could get very far.

Alexander was still undeadly alive when the wolf was finished, his un-needed pants for air gurgling in his bloody throat. The wolf stalked over to him, all power and fearsome energy, and stood over his weak state before dispatching him similarly to the bodyguards.

Caroline lay on the ground and extracted the stake with an unlady-like grunt and gasp, panting as she threw the stake to the ground. She raised herself onto her elbows and met the eyes of the wolf. Despite their animal form, they had a glimmer of deep blue to them, and she knew it was Klaus.

"Thank you," Caroline said softly, and the wolf seemed to understand her words before a fierce look overcame it and it took off running again with a snarl.

Klaus was not happy.


	19. The Morning After

Klaus woke up in a forest of pine with no idea of what time, day, or country it was. He would have been startled, but it wasn't the first time. He also then realized he was naked, so he assumed it was after a wolf transformation, and he waited for the memories to start kicking in. He felt the slight nagging ache in his bones from the transformation, one that said he had been stretched to the limit, but it was a good feeling for him, even if it was accompanied by the thin layer of dirt on his body. A pair of pants hit the ground next to him, and he turned, expecting Elijah like the time before.

He was surprised now. Caroline was the one sitting on the low bough of one of the old fur trees, only three feet off the ground.

"Morning sunshine." She called, and her voice was cheeky and bright enough, but he knew there was something else in store for him from her.

"Hello, sweetheart." Klaus crooned in response, and stood up to put the pants on. "I wasn't expecting to see your face after a transformation. How did you stick around?"

"You're not that scary." She shot, tossing him a shirt when he was done. He pulled it on and paused to do up the buttons, but found that Caroline had walked over to tap his hands away and do it herself, brushing her fingers languidly against his chest as she did so. He smiled softly down at her, but she frowned up at him, her fingers searching along his shoulder and collarbone that he hadn't noticed was pulsating in an odd way.

"They must have tried to put a stake through you last night too, you've got splinters all along here. I couldn't see it while you were in wolf form." She murmured, and he remembered what had prompted the transformation in the first place.

"Alexander." Klaus growled in a fearsome undertone, and Caroline's eyes widened, but not out of fear. She was never frightened by him, she always knew she was safe. Even when he was at his worst and lashing out, like at the Grill, she was never scared of him, knew that she wouldn't be harmed by him. She may not have known it at the time, but she knew that now.

"Why were you there with him?" He asked shortly.

"I followed him there." She answered simply.

"Why did you follow him?" He asked in a tone that added another underlying question.  _Why the hell would you follow him, at what point did that even seem like a remotely good thing?_

"It seemed like the logical thing to do." She said in answer to the unsaid question in his eyes, and continued on quickly as his eyes narrowed at the word 'logical'. "He tried to compel me, and I was wondering what he was planning."

"He tried to compel you?" Klaus repeated, his eyes narrowing even further while his brows came together.

"I thought only Originals could do that." Caroline said, wondering what information Klaus was holding back on.

"He was one of the very first vampires we turned, and we've noticed that the closer one is to the bloodline and the longer they have been around, the more powerful they are. But even then he shouldn't have been able to compel a vampire." Klaus said, thinking out loud for her benefit – if he withheld too much she would know. She always knew. "Unless he had some other help."

"Like a witch? He had a few werewolves with him." Caroline said helpfully, but it only reminded Klaus of the men who had held her down in an attempt to kill her.

"How did you think you would escape them anyway?" He challenged, and she bristled.

"I can take care of myself perfectly well. I knew I could handle it."

"At what point were you handling it? Pray tell me, love." He said mockingly.

She seethed. "Well I thought I would be fine."

"What, fine until I swooped in to save you again?" Klaus' anger appeared in his eyes as they became rimmed with gold while he towered over her intimidatingly, though she refused to back down. "I wont always be there. Much as I would love to promise that I will, there may come a day when I don't get there in time to save you."

"Is that why you gave me a necklace to protect me?" Caroline said quietly, dangerously, and Klaus knew she had caught on. "When I returned last night before the party ended and got Rebekah to help me clean up the mess you left, I asked her why the stake couldn't get to my heart. She said it was probably because I've been drinking so much of your blood, more than anyone else on this Earth has probably had, but its more than that, isn't it. This is a talisman." She nodded, clasping the beautiful tigers eye pendant around her neck.

"That's what I like about you. You've always been more than just a lovely face." Klaus sighed, and backed down slightly. "Yes. It's a talisman."

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious, love? I can't always protect you, and you have a strong possibility for being in the line of fire. I've spent the past thousand years knowing that the few people I cared about were near impossible to kill, and then you come along and are not only my greatest strength but my biggest weakness. And you are an easier target to kill to get to me the most brutally."

Caroline was silent, absorbing the new information. She knew it would have been difficult for him to even admit to the fact that she had somehow become that important to him. "That was what Alexander wanted, wasn't it. A way to get to you."

Klaus' face darkened. "Alexander was one of the first to be turned, and it was at a terrible time. He had the werewolf gene, and it had just been activated with his first kill, though he had yet to see a full moon to trigger the change fully. He also had a political nature, so he fit in well with Elijah. When he turned Alexander, it was days before the full moon, and he has been perpetually stuck, never to reach his full potential. It was something he understood in me trying to break the curse, but it was also something he envied and resented. He found a weakness and struck to gain my attention, but he lost his life instead."

"Well we've proved that the Mikaelson's bring drama to the party." Caroline said, trying to make light of the situation, before turning away from Klaus and starting to walk. "We should get back to the house. I'm sure your siblings would like to know you've stopped walking on all fours."

They walked through the forest in silence for a bit till they came to the edge of one of the far vineyards, neither of them using their heightened speed out of the sheer lack of a want or a need to get back to the family quickly. They barely had time alone with this much distance anymore.

"I'm going to stop wearing the necklace, you know." Caroline said with a hint of regret. She had started to really like the pendant, it was wonderfully unique.

"No, you wont." Klaus said firmly.

"Yes I will." She retorted, her hands going to the clasp.

Klaus instantly snatched her wrists away, rounding on her. "No." If there was one thing he would be forceful about with Caroline, it would be this.

"Yes." She said, struggling to free her wrists.

"Don't make me compel you, love."

"You wouldn't." She scoffed.

"When it comes to your safety, I'm willing to do any evil thing, stoop to any level. Really, love." He said with his wide-eyed persuasive face. "Keep the necklace on." He wasn't compelling her, but he was close to the point of using it, and she sensed his need to protect her like he protected his family, the sudden urgency to protect the new unruly addition to his eternal life. She frowned deeply, but nodded.

"Fine. But this is the only time you win." She said, and he nodded, just happy to get his way. They were both unsuited in that way, both stubborn, but somehow now they were both also happy to compromise if it was an understandable problem. Or at least forget about it and get lost in passion.

"And when we get back, I'm going to sit you down in the bath and pull whatever that is from your shoulder." She said in her usual bossy tone, and Klaus suddenly remembered the pins and splinters across his shoulder.

"I can do it myself."

"Fine." She shrugged. "Suit yourself, I'll just go hang out with Kol. Maybe have a tussle, even if he does get a bit frisky."

"Very funny."

"I know."

They walked up through the patio and up the stairs.

"I'm alive," Klaus called for the house to hear. "Lets convene in the lounge in half an hour." Caroline pressed her lips against his neck as he opened the door to his bedroom and he smirked. "Make that an hour."

"Strip down, I'll go run the water." Caroline instructed, disappearing into the ensuite.

"No need to be so seductive, love." He teased, and she rolled her eyes, turning on the taps. She made the mistake of glancing into the mirror and seeing his reflection as he did what she asked, stripping off the clothes he had just put on, comfortable with his body as always. He unbuttoned the pants and glanced up to catch her eye in the mirror with a mischievous grin, and she looked away with a small smile of her own. She stopped the water, turning away so he could step into the bath with some semblance of privacy, and waited till she heard him settle.

"So, are you going to play nurse?" He asked with a smirk, and she turned with a frown.

"Very funny. You get yourself hurt and its all a joke. I get myself in a little trouble and it's like the worlds ending."

Klaus opened his mouth to say it would be the world ending if she got hurt, but realized that would be too much revealed when he wasn't even certain enough to say it.

"Lets not bring up anything too unpleasant." He said in a rare moment of rationality, and Caroline blinked, and nodded.

"All right." She said, drawing to his side to start removing the shards of wood embedded in his shoulder.

"Here," He said, gently pulling her up and shifting forward so she could sit on the edge of the tub. Caroline removed her flats, rolled up her jeans and placed a leg either side of Klaus so she sat on the lip of the bathtub and he leaned back against her, resting his arm on the tops of her knees. She carefully continued to pluck splinters, his skin healing as she went.

"Thank you, love." He murmured offhand, and Caroline paused for a moment with a smile.

"You've never thanked me for helping you before. Actually, come to think of it, you've never let me help you before."

"I'm probably just getting sentimental." He tutted.

"Well believe it or not, I actually like seeing a sweeter side to you. You know, alongside all the other parts of your personality like the growling and the fighting." Caroline said, then shook her head. "Of course, then you also go and do something and get hurt, and I then start to fret, and I wonder if it's worth it."

"Is it?" Klaus didn't move to see her face, suddenly worried about what he might find.

"Of course it is." Caroline said like it was obvious, so used to speaking her mind around Klaus and not worrying about the consequences.

"Well just be thankful for the sentimentality. You are the only person I'd be willing to show a hint of kindness towards."

"I've figured." Caroline said with a sense of sadness, but then shook it off. "Well, I'm getting used to it. All adds to your sexy appeal."

"That I have a split personality?" Klaus scoffed, knowing Caroline couldn't be fully content with the fact that he was brutal and ruthless half the time. "It would be fair for you to say that you didn't like it."

"And what would that do?"

"Nothing."

"Are you trying to push me away?" She said in jest, and he tilted his head back to rest on her thighs and look up at her.

"Never, angel."

"Angel, I like the sound of that." She smiled, bending her head to kiss him. In a flurry of water she was on his lap, her clothes getting drenched.

"I wasn't finished on your shoulder."

"It can wait."

"No it can't."

"I don't care."

"I do." Caroline said, moving her mouth down his neck and to his shoulder, taking the two shards she had left for last out with her teeth, his hiss of pain becoming meaningless as she licked the blood clean from his shoulder. His hands moved to her soaked blouse, trying to shed it from her.

"I'm sopping wet."

"And I'm trying to help you out of those clothes, angel, before you catch your death." Klaus countered, and she smiled against his lips, her hands finding his to help lift her shirt over her head and fling it into the sink with a resounding  _thwack_. Her jeans were a little more difficult, but resulted in giggles and chuckles as they struggled, and with a little wriggling the material finally peeled down and went the same way as her top.

"This seems counter-intuitive to making you clean."

"Nothing is counter-intuitive when it comes to me and you together."

…

"About time." Kol said as the pair came downstairs later. Elijah and Rebekah were already in the lounge, ready to discuss whatever issue had arisen the night before.

"Oh don't be jealous just because you didn't get any with Eva." Caroline snapped, rendering Kol speechless while Klaus chuckled proudly.

"Enough." Elijah said from where he stood by the window, and the three walked in from the hall to sit down. Kol sat on the couch with Rebekah and Klaus sat in the armchair, tugging Caroline in one swift calculated move so she landed in his lap.

"Nik," She muttered, feeling a little inappropriate, but his hands were tight around her and so she shifted till she was half on him, squeezed into the small section of space left on the seat, her legs slung across his lap.

"Happy?" Caroline huffed, and Klaus grinned.

"Quite."

"Niklaus, you're the one who called this gathering." Elijah reminded in slightly exasperated tones.

"Ah, yes." Klaus leaned forward slightly. "As you all know, Alexander decided to make a particular scene at last nights party that I disagreed with. While we could easily hazard a guess as to why, I want to know how he planned this and who with. He must have had accomplices. What I want everyone to know is that it is not okay to even think about crossing any of us, in any way, shape or form. We've been out of the public eye for too long, and we need to show that we are to be feared as we always have been."

"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" Kol said excitedly.

"Hold up, no blood baths." Caroline piped up.

"Caro, I love you and all, but you probably shouldn't get involved in any of this." Rebekah said before any of her brothers could get a word in.

"Why?"

"Because this is what we do. Its what the Mikaelsons do. We need to set ourselves up again, just polish our reputation a bit and show people who's boss. Just like high school, only with a little more vampire drama and less teen angst."

"We have been hiding for several centuries now, but we have always been in power." Elijah expanded on his sisters words. "Particularly now that Mikael is gone, we need to show the supernatural community that we are not to be questioned, ever."

"You don't have to do anything, love." Klaus murmured.

"Then why do you?" She asked.

"You've seen me at my worst. You know who I am. I need to protect what is mine, always."

"And if it comes with a good showdown, then Nik's there." Kol added.

"Fine." Caroline huffed. "But what happened to showing me the world?"

"Alright, new plan." Rebekah sat up. "You men can stay here and do whatever you need to announce our family, and I'll take a little trip with Caro. Nothing too grand," She added when Klaus looked as if he would argue that he was the only one to show Caroline the world and all. "Just a nice little trip to Spain. Eva did mention she'd be migrating there, and I feel like I haven't seen her for a century. Oh wait, that's right…" Rebekah glared pointedly at Klaus, and he raised his hands in acquiescence.

"Would you agree to that, sweetheart?" He asked Caroline.

She sighed. "Only if it isn't for too long. Christmas is coming up, you know."

"I know." He said, pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

"So its settled. We'll leave tomorrow." Rebekah nodded.

…

"Another round of Sangria, señoritas?" A suave tanned waiter – if that was what you could call the male model wearing cut off jeans and a tight button up shirt – asked the three lounging blonde women.

"Si, per favore." Eva purred with a vivacious smile. The waiter nodded with a sly wink, turning with their empty glasses on a tray and heading back into the hotel.

"Mmm, I'm feeling a holiday treat." She murmured to Rebekah and Caroline.

Rebekah raised her head and let her sunglasses slide down her nose as she gazed after the man. "I agree. I need the treat more than you, however."

"And why is that?" Eva asked with a slight smile.

"Well, you sort of have my brother, even if he wont admit it, and Caroline has Nik, even if she wont admit it." The two older vampires looked over at Caroline, who was busy checking her phone every three seconds.

"Caro." Rebekah repeated.

"Carolina?" Eva sing-songed, and the two girls laughed when Caroline finally looked up with a slightly guilty expression on her face.

"Huh?"

"Who are you texting?" Rebekah asked slyly.

"Nobody." She responded, promptly dropping her phone and turning over to get some sun on her front.

"Sure, nobody." Eva rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Well, should we be sending a photo of how lovely we all look in our bathing suits to these nobodies of ours?"

Caroline turned to Rebekah with a gasp. "I thought you and Matt were through!"

Eva copied Caroline. "Who's this Matt?"

"Nobody!" Rebekah exclaimed, and Eva laughed.

"Exactly, just as Niklaus is a nobody and Kol is a nobody."

"Oh hush." Rebekah grumbled, and turned to face Caroline on her other side. "And we never really started to begin with. He never tried anything. He was just a gentleman."

"Look, Bekah, you're a bitch at the best of times – "

"Hey!"

" – but Matt seemed to bring out a slightly nicer – "

"Hey!"

" – girlier – "

"Hey, I'm a little hurt right now."

" – side to you. And maybe if you ever are in Mystic Falls in the next…three years or so, then definitely go for it." Caroline nodded, and Rebekah pouted, but they could all tell it was just for show, and she brushed off the act soon after.

"Fine, whatever."

Despite her words, Caroline and Eva shared a smiling look, since it was obvious that Rebekah would be interested in actually following the words Caroline said.

The waiter came back with the sangrias, and at Eva's request, took a photo of the three girls by the poolside, which she then forwarded to the Mikaelson men to – as an Eva quote – 'prove they were having a good time'.

"I'm sure they would have figured that out without a picture." Caroline said, polishing off her drink and gathering her things.

"Oh, but its no reason to leave." Eva protested with a frown.

"Its not that, I just want a shower before our night out on the town."

"So you won't stay to ogle the gorgeous waiter at least a dozen more times?"

"Oddly enough, I cant see Klaus being too happy about that."

"Well what he doesn't know can't hurt him." Eva tilted her head cheekily, and Caroline laughed, but shook her head.

"I'll just head back to my room in the suite." Rebekah had naturally booked the most extravagant suite for the trio, and while they had yet to actually spend a night in their separate rooms rather than crashing together on the couches or the large king sized bed, they kept a room each for some personal space.

"Whatever," Rebekah sighed, turning on her stomach to lounge in the sun. Caroline looked at her quizzically, and the Original blonde shrugged.

"I'm still not going to forget how mean you were." She sniffed, and Caroline rolled her eyes with a smile, squeezing her hand affectionately and waving to Eva as she sauntered back into the shade of the hotel.

When she finally reached the room she flopped down on the bed with a sigh, pondering about whether it was worthwhile checking her phone for the umpteenth time. She had barely heard anything from Klaus, and while she understood why he wouldn't exactly have time to talk with all the weird macho vampire power family display they were planning and the odd brother bonding time in between, she had to admit that not hearing from him was killing her.

"Screw it," She muttered to herself, picking up her mobile even as she cursed herself inwardly for doing so.

(1) message from Niklaus.

Caroline smiled.

_**I see you're having a fun time without me, but you still look like a goddess.** _

_And I see…no news from you. How are you?_

The reply took a moment.

_**We're all fine. How about I call you?** _

Caroline checked the time on her phone.

_Maybe not now. I'm about to go out on the town with Bek and Eva, and I needed to have a shower first._

His reply came instantly, then.

_**Shower instead of me?** _

_I need to wash off the chlorine from the swim_.

Caroline smiled evilly before sending a second text.

_Just stripped off._

_**You're killing me, love.** _

She laughed.

_;) I know. Gotta go, talk later. x_

Later, at the second bar of the night, reveling in the sheer amount of liquor available due to the lack of tourists, Caroline received another text.

_**Are you alone yet, sweetheart?** _

_Do you have no patience?_

_**None where you and your body are concerned.** _

Another text came through immediately after.

_**I have no patience when the only thing I want to do right now is have you unraveling and screaming my name under my touch, angel.** _

Fuck.

She bit her lip, and Rebekah was the first to notice.

"What's happening, Caro?"

Eva was the first to understand. "Oh, you're texting Klaus." She said with a smile.

The guilty look Caroline flashed up to them spoke louder than words.

"Is my brother giving you a hard time?" Rebekah frowned, and Eva nearly choked on her drink.

"Oh, come now, Bekah-bell, of  _course_  he is."

"Ewww," Rebekah cringed, covering her ears. "I did not need to know or think of any of those things."

"He's making everything very difficult." Caroline told Eva.

"He needs you to make it sexy-difficult, then." Eva offered her advice.

"He is my  _brother_." Rebekah emphasized to them both.

"How do I make it sexy-difficult?" Caroline asked Eva.

"How does any woman?" Eva shrugged rhetorically.

"How do I stop this conversation from happening?" Rebekah asked herself out loud.

"What do I do, then?" Caroline queried Eva.

"What every couple does when distance separates them," Eva said.

"What will it take for you guys to understand that I  _so_  don't want to hear this about my own  _brother_?" Rebekah interrupted as she shook her head, knowing she would not even be heard.

"Caroline," Eva continued over the end of Rebekah's lament. "You have a phone. Use it."

"You mean…"

"Yup. Phone sex."

"Urgh,"

"But I've never…"

"Doesn't matter. Just try to rile him up."

" _Urgh,_ "

"Oh hush, Beks." Caroline turned back to Eva. "Just rile him up?"

"Go for it. And keep it simple." Eva nodded.

"I need another drink." Rebekah sighed, dragging Eva with her up to the bar. "You are paying."

"Why?"

"You started all these  _gross_  images that I need to bleach from my brain with alcohol."

Caroline returned to the last message.

_**I have no patience when the only thing I want to do right now is have you unraveling and screaming my name under my touch, angel.** _

_What would you do first?_

_**You're sitting at a bar in public in Spain, so I would start out slow, teasing you under the table, caressing your legs, slowly inching up…** _

The text stopped there, and Caroline swore under her breath, already imagining his touch. She shivered, crossing her legs.

_What would you do next?_

_**I'd make my way up to finally touch you where you needed to be touched. Then I'd slide my fingers under your panties.** _

_I'm not wearing any panties._

It was a terrible lie, but as Eva had said much earlier, what Klaus didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Plus she liked how it took him a second to respond.

_**Really?** _

_I learnt from you, its easiest to go commando. Though it makes it difficult when I'm this worked up for you._

That was no lie. Her breathing had already accelerated like she had run a marathon, and she could just picture Klaus reading the messages. Another pause.

_**Christ, Caroline…** _

_Yes?_

_**I need you.** _

_How?_

_**I need you shivering under me like our first night. And I need you moaning my name.** _

Oh that was unfair. Memories of Paris came flooding back to Caroline, and she shivered all the same. Damn him.

_I'll be heading back to the room soon. Maybe then I'll call and you can hear me moaning your name._

_**If you make me wait, I'll make you pay, sweetheart.** _

She would have scoffed and rolled her eyes, but she read it in her mind with his voice, his accent, his growl…

And it did seriously irritatingly pleasurable things to her.

"Sorry, you two, I'm calling it a night." Caroline said quickly to Eva and Rebekah as they came back to the table.

"Urgh, please, lets not go home for a while. I don't want to know what's going to happen when they call each other." Rebekah downed her drink and circled back to the bar for another.


	20. Merry Klausmas

"I cannot believe you are doing this to me!" Eva exclaimed, trying to tug her wrist from Rebekah's hold.

"And I cannot believe you are making such a scene." Rebekah hissed, glancing around at the other arrivals passing through immigration around them.

"I don't care." Eva whined, her short blonde hair practically flying around her head in agitation. "I don't do Christmas. Especially not with the Mikaelsons. _Especially_  not with Kol."

"Unless I say you do. And you do."

"You are  _such_  a controlling cat."

"And you are a seductive snake."

"And you two are driving me around the bend." Caroline huffed, standing on tiptoe to search the crowd for a familiar evil face. "Where the hell is that big bad man?"

"Please tell me that isn't your pet name for my brother." Rebekah groaned.

"Why do you jump to that conclusion first?" Caroline asked.

"Is that them?" Eva's eyes widened like saucers, ducking down behind the two mermaid hair blondes. Caroline on the other hand, jumped like she had just been electrocuted and ran towards the Mikaelson men, immediately jumping at vampire speed into Klaus' arms and enveloping herself in his embrace with a sigh.

"Missed me, love?" He chuckled into her curls.

"I'd never admit it out loud." She answered, but it was still enough of a confirmation to put a smirk on his face.

"Is that Eva?" Kol froze.

"Be nice, she's our guest." Elijah warned, and Kol's eyes popped.

"She's our  _what_?"

"And we only brought the one car, looks like you may have to squish in the back seat Kol." Klaus grinned evilly, and Kol's eyes narrowed as he spun on him.

"I will tear you limb from limb."

"I'd like to see you try."

"You'll have to get past me first." Caroline warned, and Klaus instantly tried to put himself between her and his brother.

"Do we have to do this in an  _airport terminal_?" Elijah said in a low tone as the two girls joined them, Eva doing so due to the fact that she was dragged by Rebekah. "Eva, wonderful to see you again." He smiled politely, then shot a glare at his brothers who were still throwing snide remarks at each other under their breath. "Please forgive my family for being so crass."

"Never mind, we all know I'm used to crass from over the years, particularly from some." Eva smiled sweetly, but Kol's ears turned red. Caroline was more than amazed. Eva had made Kol  _embarrassed_? The woman must have a super power.

"Can we skip all this and get to the house? I'm so over airports." Rebekah huffed, and they all rolled their eyes but complied.

The car ride was interesting to say the least. Elijah refused to let anyone else drive ("It's an Aston Martin  _Classic,_ there is no way you are even touching the wheel, Kol.") and Rebekah claimed the passenger seat with such force that no one had the energy or the will to challenge her, which left Klaus and Caroline to happily canoodle in the back (or canoodle as much as someone like Klaus could) and left Kol and Eva to their silence.

"I still can't believe we're in London for Christmas." Caroline breathed, looking out the window at the many well-known attractions all covered in slightly slushy white snow.

"We fit in a little better here." Klaus said. "Now its you and Eva who stick out like sore thumbs."

"Eva always sticks out." Kol said, before visibly biting his tongue and refusing to take his eyes off the leather cover of the front seat even as he felt Eva's gaze hot on the side of his neck.

"I hope you meant that in a good way, Kol, for your sake." She replied, before settling back and trying to forget how close they were due to the limited room of the back seat and how their thighs and shoulders and forearms were touching.

"Are they always like this?" Caroline murmured in hushed tones , and Klaus smirked.

"No. Sometimes they're all over each other like glue."

Eva snarled at him, and Caroline stuck her tongue out in Klaus' defense.

The moment they arrived at the house both Kol and Eva cleared out of the car like it was on fire. Caroline took a moment, taking in every detail of the beautiful house they had pulled up to. It looked to be at least three stories high, and capped with snow. She had seen snow in Mystic Falls, of course, but there was something about seeing another country dusted with snow, particularly when seeing the country for the first time, and everything seemed more heightened. That feeling increased when Klaus joined her, wrapping his arms around her and watching her take in the simple sight.

"Do you like it?"

"Love it." She breathed with her usual bright smile, and he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"I missed you." He said with honesty, and she looked up at him for a long moment.

"I missed you too." She replied. "What did you end up accomplishing with Elijah and Kol?"

His face darkened slightly into one she recognised from Mystic Falls days, and she was struck again by how different he was with her.

"You don't need to know details, but everything was taken care of. We spoke to some and they passed on the message, and anyone who dared question it was dealt with easily."

Caroline shivered, and Klaus tightened his embrace in comfort, but he did no more to assure her.

"This is our life, sweetheart. You had better get used to it, fast."

"I know," Caroline nodded, eyes closed. "It's a little hard to put all of my morals behind me."

"Not all. Caroline," Klaus held her face between his calloused palms and waited for her eyes to lock back onto his. "I will never force you to drink from a human or kill anyone. I won't force you to do anything unless something compromises your safety. Your moral guidance is very different to mine, but that's what gives you your light. All I ask is that you accept that while you don't do those things, we do. And in our case, we do these things because they're necessary."

"Its necessary that you all are feared?" Caroline asked softly.

"'It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.'" Klaus quipped lightly.

"I don't believe that for a second." Caroline murmured, nuzzling into his palm while her fingers traced along his jaw. "I believe you can do both."

Klaus was silent for a moment, watching her thoughtfully, before shaking off the mood entirely.

"Lets get inside. I know for a fact the house is warm and lovely."

…

It was Caroline's idea to set up lights. Elijah and Klaus had never bothered to decorate the house before, and Rebekah and Kol hadn't been around for a Christmas with lights and fantastic garden displays. Eva said she didn't particularly like Christmas as a rule, so she too hadn't ever decorated. Nothing could have prepared them for a Caroline Forbes Christmas.

She roped Klaus into lining the house in intricate flashing lights, and Kol and Rebekah were intrigued enough to set up a display of reindeer and a Santa Claus on the front lawn, despite Elijah's protests of how tacky they were. Eva was secretly happy to festoon the front door with a wreath, despite the irony of traditional wreaths being weaved with vervain.

Caroline also refused to let anyone back out of decorating the Christmas tree inside the house, becoming a little terror when Elijah started a speech about the pagan traditions not corresponding with the modern interpretation of Christmas.

"And gifts." Caroline nodded, after she had silenced Elijah with her own rant. "We have to do gifts."

"Really? Is it necessary? We haven't done that for years." Klaus commented.

Caroline gaped at him. "No Christmas for years."

"Well we were all in boxes, weren't we." Kol said dryly.

"We have to do it then. Its no wonder your family is so twisted if you don't do things like this." Caroline sat down between Eva and Rebekah, knowing the girls would back her opinion against Klaus.

"Its been years since we have." Rebekah sighed.

"Plus I want to see what kind of gifts people as intricate as you would come up with." Eva said smoothly.

"Elijah?"

"I do have to agree with the positive aspects." Elijah acquiesced.

"Kol?"

"Presents? How could I ever argue with that?"

"Outnumbered, Nik." Caroline smiled smugly, but Klaus' dominant posture didn't change and neither did his opinion.

"I'm the alpha male, I don't have to accept that."

"Think it through, Nik." Kol said slowly. "Presents. Gifts. Caroline. Lingerie. Caroline  _in_  lingerie."

Elijah smacked Kol across the back of his head, but Klaus for once still agreed with his little brother.

"Point made. Fine, we'll give gifts."

…

Christmas Eve came and Caroline organised a traditional human Christmas feast with Rebekah's assistance, frowning upon any suggestion from Kol to turn it into a less human, more vampire style feast.

"No blood baths. You had your fun earlier, now its time to do things the human way." Caroline said firmly while basting a large turkey – she was determined to do the cooking by herself as well.

"I haven't had to do that for a thousand years, and I don't plan on doing so now." Kol shot back, unhelpfully sticking his finger in the various surrounding ingredients till he was smacked on the hand with a wooden spoon.

"Stop being such a baby." Eva demanded, spoon in hand, bumping hips with Caroline to wordlessly ask if she needed any help. Caroline passed a bowl of potatoes along to her along with a chopping board and knife. "I can't believe I ever was tempted into your bed when you still act like such a little boy." Eva continued, and Kol frowned, her words actually getting under his skin before the cocky demeanor returned.

"I bet I could easily do it again."

"Doubtful."

"Doubtful you could resist."

"Please, don't make me throw up."

"Yes, Kol, please." Caroline interjected, a few wayward curls batting her cheeks as she turned to place the turkey back in the oven and whirl around to find another dish to prepare. "I want to actually eat this meal, not try and salvage it."

"I bet that I could, though." Kol said doggedly, his eyes never leaving Eva's face. "I bet I could do it by New Years Eve."

Eva raised an eyebrow before returning her gaze nonchalantly to the potatoes she was quartering. "Lets make it a little more interesting. If you win by New Years Eve, I'll do anything you ask."

"Anything?" Kol grinned.

"Yes. And if I win," Eva looked up at him again with her features set grimly. "I get to leave and never deal with you again."

Kol's face fell instantly before he had time to slip on a mask of indifference. Caroline watched the exchange with interest.

"Leave?"

"Yes."

"Is that what you really want?"

Eva inhaled slowly. "Yes."

Kol blinked, and then set his jaw resolutely. "Very well then. I'll see that I win."

The words took Eva by surprise, and a small smile crept onto her face as he winked at her and sauntered off.

"What was that all about?" Caroline asked softly once she was sure he had at least left the room.

"My way of giving it one last chance." Eva replied quietly. "I'm done with playing cat and mouse. Its fun, don't get me wrong, but it hurts after a few centuries." She sighed, clearly wondering if she should confide fully in Caroline. "And I have to admit, seeing you with Klaus puts things in perspective for me. I always thought that of all the Originals, he would be the last to find anyone who he not only let stand by him but also could be strong enough to hold their own. And then you appear, and everything fits. Its magical, and not in the supernatural sense, more the fate and stars aligning sense."

"Way to make it sound Disney." Caroline laughed, and Eva smiled.

"I know. But still. It makes me think, well, if you and Klaus can have that, why can't I? Why can't Kol?"

"You both can, and you both deserve it." Caroline said honestly, before smiling cheekily. "Even if you're both little terrors at the best of times."

"I'll take that as a compliment, thank you." Eva sniffed, head held high, before succumbing to chuckles.

Dinner somehow got itself done and on the table, and the Mikaelson's and guests talked well into the evening. Laughter wormed its way into their serious lives, particularly when Rebekah brought out Christmas crackers.

"Really, Beks?" Caroline giggled at the unexpected move from the usually icy blonde.

"I heard it was a tradition, and I've never done it, so tough, you all have to as well." She nodded, and everyone grabbed a cracker each and pulled with a partner.

"Are they always meant to have these in them?" Kol asked as he pulled out the paper crown and other meaningless plastic junk usually found in the crackers.

"Yes," Caroline said, forcing one on Klaus and Elijah's heads before placing hers on her own crown of golden curls.

"And they also are meant to have pointless trinklets," Eva explained. "Like a whistle or a key ring or – "

"A race car!" Kol exclaimed with a boyish grin on his face, and despite her earlier snide remarks at his immaturity, Eva smiled fondly at him while he wasn't looking.

"Will you never grow up, Kol?" Klaus shot, but Kol was far too caught up in the tiny delights of the Christmas cracker to bother rising to his brothers words.

"Let him have his fun, you put him in a box for a century just for being annoying." Elijah commented, fiddling with the spinning top he had received in his cracker.

"Again? How long are we going to bring up the dagger-and-coffin incident?" Klaus asked, and Caroline elbowed him.

"You chucked your family in boxes for years. They should continue to bring this up forever."

Klaus scowled at her, but couldn't deny that she was right, and so remained silent for fear of retorting and being proven wrong. He was never wrong. Just sometimes not right. But that didn't equal wrong.

"There's something else in here too." Rebekah said, fishing out a scrap of paper.

"A joke, probably. They're usually awful." Caroline said.

"No, something else." Eva said, scanning her own. "A fortune."

" _Those who walk in others tracks leave no footprints._ " Rebekah read aloud, and scoffed. "Well that is a fairly obvious one."

"Come on, Beks, you know the true meaning." Caroline cajoled. "People need to make their own way and set their own path or they wont ever make their mark and prove themselves, find themselves." She noticed Rebekah's thoughtful face and decided to let her mull over the message herself. "What about you, Eva?"

" _The object of your desire comes closer._ " Eva recited, and Kol smirked. "Nup, sorry, must have gotten yours mixed up with mine, Kol."

"Well the one I have here is  _If you are afraid to shake the dice, you will never roll a six_ , so it works out either way for me." He retorted with a cheeky grin plastered to his face, and Eva rolled her eyes in good humor.

"What's yours, Elijah?"

" _If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words._  All common knowledge." He replied with a sage voice. "Niklaus?"

" _There are no limitations aside from those we acknowledge_. Arguable, but I'm willing to let it slide. And you, Caroline?"

" _Love, because it is the only true adventure._ " Caroline glanced up to catch Klaus' eye, and a mutual understanding passed between them before she blushed slightly and looked away. "Typical fortune cookie stuff. I'm amazed it's even in Christmas crackers."

"Insightful, but silly." Elijah agreed with a knowing glance, before standing to help clear the table.

…

Christmas Day came quietly. Caroline and Klaus had lain talking in bed for hours. Caroline was not willing to sleep.

"I remember back when I was a kid, I used to try and stay up to hear the reindeer on the roof, to hear Santa go down the chimney." She chuckled in the airy pre-dawn voice that Klaus had come to know. "Silly, I know, but I still clung to that for a few desperate Christmas' when I was in high school. I knew it wasn't real, but sometimes I liked to imagine I could hear them, just to feel that magic again."

"It isn't as childish and silly as you think." Klaus murmured, entranced by her youthful ways and light heart. "It creates the lightness in your bones that makes you stunning."

"You get very romantic in the early morning." She noted with a roll of her eyes, and he shrugged.

"I promise it's the only time it will ever happen."

"Agreed." Their interlocked hands lay between them and she ran her nose back and forth along his knuckles.

"This is perfect." Caroline murmured into the pillow, so quiet that even Klaus with his heightened senses could not hear the individual words.

"Hmm? What was that, love?"

"This is perfect." She said a little more clearly. "This moment. Being here. Being with you. It's perfect. You're perfect, Nik."

He looked stunned, then something else, beyond his usual look of being pleased. Joyful. Happy. A very foreign expression for him, but it made him look so beautiful that it hurt her heart a little.

"You're perfect, which is so beyond annoying, I can't even look at you." Caroline scoffed, burrowing her face into the pillow, but the large smile that stretched across her mouth gave her own happiness away.

"Thank you, Caroline." He whispered against her forehead before brushing his lips tenderly across her smooth skin. "Thank you."

…

"Gifts! Now!" Rebekah's voice rang through the halls, waking up any straggling family members who had elected to sleep in a little, though according to the youngest Mikaelson, it clearly wasn't an option. The household assembled by the Christmas tree, looking like a ragtag bunch in their pajamas. Even Elijah was still wearing his sleep clothes, though they looked much more formal than his brothers.

Gifts were exchanged with far too much ribbing for the hour and lack of proper breakfast, but it wouldn't have been Christmas without a few Mikaelson spats.

"Is there any reason why you decided to get me a lump of coal, Kol?" Rebekah snapped. "Aside from the  _hilarious_  similarity?"

"I did my research, I know what bad girls are meant to get for Christmas." Kol shot back. "Especially harlots."

The coal was suddenly wedged into his stomach somewhere between his lungs and his intestine.

"Very funny, Rebekah." He groaned.

"Oh, I know." She smiled sweetly.

"Is this supposed to be enticing me?" Eva mocked.

Kol's grimace instantly transformed into a smirk. "Well, that depends. Are you willing to play nurse for me?"

"Hmm, let me think,  _no_."

"Darn. Well that's your Christmas gift out the window." Kol snickered, his laughter growing as Eva unwrapped a nurses uniform from the box he had given her with an open mouth.

"That's an old school nurses uniform." Caroline commented.

"Smoothly done, Kol." Klaus nodded in almost approval.

"What do you mean?" Caroline asked.

"Sweetheart, Kol may have fought in a war and Eva may have already played nurse with him." Klaus said with a wink.

"Eww, gross!" Caroline and Rebekah chorused together.

"I so don't want that image in my head." Rebekah added for good measure, as Caroline giggled at Eva's blush. It was the first time she'd seen the girl in any shape or form of being flustered, and it was  _adorable_.

"Hush up all of you." Eva hissed, fangs bared. "That includes you, Elijah."

"I have not said a word." He said, but his thoughts on the topic were easily read through his expressions.

"For you, love." Klaus distracted Caroline with a present of her own.

"You remembered." She breathed, opening it with a delighted gasp.

"Of course." He said casually, still not expecting to be covered in kisses.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Caroline repeated, ignoring his family and Eva for a moment as she conveyed her gratitude.

"What on Earth did you give her to promote such a display?" Rebekah asked, her forehead furrowing even more when Caroline held up the gift. "A camera? A camera made you want to pash with my brother in front of us? You're weird, Caro."

"Don't care." Caroline smiled. "I wanted proper photos to document this, and now I can, easily. And now I can take my revenge on you." She added to Klaus, not forgetting the many sketches he had made of her.

"Revenge? Against me? Why would you try something so foolish, love?" He scoffed, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, just watch me. Now, open yours."

Klaus complied, not knowing what to expect, for what could you really give the most powerful being on the planet when he had everything, including the vivacious Caroline? But he was amused and slightly confused by what he was given.

"Why?"

"For part of our trip." Caroline grinned with the slightest hint of mischief. "I've already booked the next part, but at some point, we are road tripping, in a car, and you will be able to show me music too."

"You got all this from an iPod?"

"Of course. And just in case you didn't keep up to date with music of the last decade while hunting down doppelgangers and witches and vampires and werewolves, I made you a playlist." She skimmed over his dark past easily, which made him slightly thankful that perhaps she was coming to terms with some of his past actions.

"Well, thank you, sweetheart. Oddly thoughtful."

"Its what I do best." Caroline nodded, accepting Klaus' kiss on her cheek.

…

Calls were made to home, for despite forgetting about the real world for just a little while, Caroline still missed her friends.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mom."

"Caroline!"

"Merry Christmas."

"And the same to you. Everything okay?"

"All good on this end. You could almost call it perfect."

"That's wonderful to hear."

"And what about you?"

"Everything's…settled. We're having a quiet Christmas." A pause. "We all miss you."

"I miss you too." Caroline swallowed against the lump in her throat. "I'll send some stuff home for you."

"And will you come with it?"

"I think I might travel for a bit, Mom." She sighed. "There's just so much of the world I haven't seen yet, and I've loved exploring what I've found. I'm ready for the adventure." She realized she wasn't just talking about travelling when she saw Klaus reading in the other room. He looked so studious, and she was filled with a wonderful sense of fluttering stuttering heartbeat, contentment and fire, all at once. She was ready for that adventure.

"I understand, Caroline. I do." A rush of static indicated Liz's sigh on the other end of the line. "Well, I'm sure you have to get back to stuff, and I've got my hands full on this side too. Stay safe." Another pause. "Love you."

"Love you too, Mom."

A sigh, then the next number.

"Caroline!"

"Hey, Elena!"

Sometime during another phone call with Bonnie after chatting with Elena and catching up with Stefan and Matt, Klaus crawled over Caroline as she lay on her stomach on their bed, clearly wanting to distract her. Caroline stuck resolutely to the conversation until Klaus began inching kisses up the base of her spine, rolling up her shirt as he went.

"Sorry, Bon, I'll have to call you back another time…yeah, Merry Christmas to you too. Love you…bye." Caroline rushed a little breathlessly into the phone before hanging up and tossing it onto the armchair near the bed.

"Is that really necessary?" She huffed, not at all as irritated as she pretended to be.

"I let you have some time, but I've shared you enough."

"Shared me?"

Klaus grinned wickedly. "I'm the possessive, selfish, greedy bad guy, remember?"

"You know, even if you keep saying that, its not going to make me want you any less." Caroline noted, flipping over onto her back and allowing him to strip off her shirt. "Particularly when I am being the greedy one, and keeping you all for myself."

"No sharing?" He asked sarcastically.

"No sharing." She repeated. "You're mine."

Klaus crashed their lips together hungrily, setting off shivers and gasps from Caroline.

"Mine." He murmured against her lips, his fingers tapping down her sides like a piano so she jolted even closer to him while she tried to wrap herself around him as tightly as possible.

"Mine." He said huskily as his nose skimmed along the hollow of her collarbone while his fingers dipped and set her writhing.

"Mine." He growled, as her teeth sank into his shoulder and he claimed her throat as his own.

"Merry Christmas." Caroline murmured with a smile, her lips stained blood red. Klaus pressed his lips to hers again, sweetly and roughly, hunger and passion and desire and adoration all rolling together.

"Merry Christmas, sweetheart."


	21. What Are You Doing New Years Eve?

New Years Eve dawned brightly, the sun glimmering on the snow that had fallen the night before. The Originals and their guests woke up in very different ways.

Klaus and Caroline woke up quite happily curled around each other. Caroline liked their quiet moments before they entered the reality of the world outside their bedroom door, when Klaus would encounter his siblings and become his usual slightly harsh self. In those moments before he became the fearful Klaus Mikaelson, he was just Nik. And she liked both, really. She liked Niklaus, the man who was both of those personalities in one very agreeable package.

Rebekah woke up in another house, in another bed, with a gorgeous blonde man asleep beside her, still sporting the marks she had given him on his neck. She licked her lips, remembering the taste, and rolled over ontop of him. It was a good wake up, but she knew deep down who she would rather be waking up with, in a far sweeter manner. Unfortunately, he was a continent away.

Eva woke up terribly. In an effort not to give into Kol's persistent charming by placing herself as far away from both him and a bed, she had taken refuge in the study, a place she was not known to frequent, and spent the night attempting to sleep on the window seat.

Kol woke up terribly. He had gone to Eva's room and when he hadn't found her or Rebekah in the main areas of the house, had assumed the worst – she was out trying to find a guy for the night. He had attempted to fall asleep on the couch near the front door to anticipate her return.

Elijah woke up best out of them all, well rested and with clear thoughts. Yes, he also woke up alone, but at least he knew he wasn't worried over it. He had spent a thousand years in his own company and he liked it, thank you very much.

However, when he came downstairs to the sight of Caroline introducing Klaus to the delights of pancakes, for Klaus had never bothered with such simple things, Elijah felt a pang of loneliness that he had spent decades suppressing.

Caroline giggled at Klaus' attempt to show off and flip a pancake by tossing the pan, her smile growing as he flashed his own grin, grabbing her by the hips and kissing her. When she noticed Elijah, she cleared her throat and tapped Klaus' hands away.

"Morning, Elijah." She said brightly, turning to save the pancakes from burning. "Hungry for breakfast?"

"Yes, thank you." He nodded. "Anything I could do to help?"

"Set the table, perhaps?"

"Certainly." Elijah retrieved the stacked plates while Caroline busied herself with the pan until she knew Elijah was preoccupied. She glanced after his retreating back with a look that caused Klaus to frown in confusion.

"What is it, love?"

Caroline placed her finger over Klaus' lips to hush him, not wanting Elijah to know that she thought something wasn't right. He would guess far quicker than Klaus, and she knew in a way that he was the proudest of all the Originals, even if he didn't let his ego show as much as his flashy younger siblings.

"Elijah," She mouthed to Klaus, still covering his mouth with a finger. "He's alone."

Klaus raised his shoulders as if to state that they could do nothing to change the situation. Caroline heaved a sigh in return, signaling that she knew, but it didn't change her feelings. Klaus ran a hand through her hair to soothe her, and she traced her fingertip along her lips, outlining his perfect cupids bow and full bottom lip.

"I'll talk to him." He mouthed against her hand, and she pressed her lips to the hollow under his jaw.

"Thank you." She breathed into his skin quietly, before turning back to the pan to ensure breakfast didn't burn.

Klaus breathed out into her curls before leaving her side to do as he promised. It was not going to be easy.

Rebekah carefully closed the front door behind her, toeing her way silently across the carpet towards the stairs, until she stopped short at the sight of Kol in a pretzel-like position on the couch. She shook her head, intrigued, but not enough to risk being embarrassed on her walk of shame.

However, she was too late. Kol woke up from the light doze he had dropped into as he attempted to sleep, and blinked blearily at his sister.

"Fancy that, my sister caught by me on her way back from yet another bed. This is, what, the second time since I was unstaked? I wonder how many I missed while I was stuck in a coffin and you were running around in the City of Sin during the decade of sex."

"Shut it, Kol. Envy doesn't look good on you." Rebekah sneered, swinging the killer heels she held in her hand half heartedly at him. Kol didn't even bother to flinch.

"What are you doing here anyway, Kol? Waiting by the front door till I returned? If you're trying to play the role of concerned big brother, you're a little late." She continued. "Elijah and Nik already beat you to it."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Bekah. You know thats not my style."

"They why are you here on the couch? I'm the only one who went out last night."

Kol's eyes lit up, and he straightened his hunched posture. "You were the only one out?"

"Yes, Caroline was kind of wrapped around our brother, and Eva said she wasn't feeling up to – " Rebekah stopped, eyes narrowing as she finally caught on. "You were waiting for Eva!"

"Who was waiting for me?" Eva yawned as she walked out of the study with sleepy eyes and rumpled hair. She smiled at Rebekah until she noticed Kol there as well and froze.

"Busted. Damn." She muttered.

"Good morning, Miss Eva. What on Earth were you doing in the study?" Kol asked smugly.

"What were you doing on the couch?" Eva countered, momentarily tripping Kol.

"I asked first." He reminded her in a tone that managed to be calm and authorative while also being childish and petulant.

"I'm going to leave you two so you can bicker in peace. I smell pancakes, and, well, I don't want to watch this sex war unfold again." Rebekah drawled, sashaying upstairs to change. The two barely registered her absence.

"Fine. I woke up early and came downstairs…to read…the old documents…kept in the study." Eva responded slowly. Kol raised one eyebrow and folded his arms, and Eva huffed.

"I was feeling sentimental, wanted to remember the centuries past." She continued, before mimicking his position. "So, why were you on the couch?"

"My bed wasn't comfortable." Kol said bluntly, and Eva bit back a laugh.

"Somehow the Goldilocks act doesn't suit you."

Kol smiled a little at that, and let the cocky demeanor slip off his face slightly. "I'll amend myself then. My bed wasn't comfortable without you."

Eva was taken aback at his honesty, but it was Kol, and he could never be sincere for long.

"Coincidentally, your bed wasn't as comfortable as mine can be, particularly since you weren't in that either." Kol said cunningly, watching Eva squirm.

Busted. Should she be swayed by his words or run again? She remembered what day it was – New Years, a day she had started to personally refer to as 'last-chance-day' – and she decided not to fall for him. For now.

"Well, the study was exceptionally comfortable. Without you." She said pointedly.

Kol wasn't fazed. "Your body certainly doesn't agree with you."

Eva scowled and straightened up, trying not to wince at her cramped muscles protesting. "You don't know my body or me anymore." She said coolly, walking past him to the kitchen, silently adding in her mind  _'but I want you to know both'_.

.

"So I take it all isn't boding well for you in the shadow of the new year." Caroline commented as she and Kol perused the aisles of the local Waitrose supermarket with a shopping trolley.

Kol grimaced. "I take it my brother's rubbing off on you in more ways than one, with that pretty sharp tongue becoming so poetically eloquent." He evaded.

She rolled her eyes. "It's actually all of you, thank you very much. Eva is probably the most linguistically hip and up to date out of all of you. Now, don't evade again." Caroline said bluntly, stopping her stroll. "What's going on with you and Eva?"

Kol hesitated a moment, speaking more in that slight pause than he ever would actually say. "Nothing. Everything between us is in the past, and will remain that way." He walked on ahead, not glancing back to see Caroline's sympathetic face. "She'll be gone by tomorrow morning."

"Not if you win her over." Caroline said hopefully.

"I can't try if she won't let me." Kol sighed, shrugging it off and tossing a few packets at random into the trolley as Caroline followed him.

"I can talk to her so she will. She should be giving you a chance, you both agreed." She stubbornly argued as she took his packets from the trolley and placed them back on the shelf while his back was turned.

"No thank you, darling." Kol said lightly, reading a cornflakes box.

"But – "

"Caroline." Kol finally turned to stare her in the eye. "No."

"Come on, Kol." She pouted. "Let me try."

"I figured you'd celebrate, since you could have a clear shot at me with Eva gone." He smirked, but she could tell it was a cover up, and a bad one at that.

"Not even if you were marinated in bleach and sanitizer for a week. Actually, not even if I'd cure vampirism by sleeping with you. Wait, no, not even if all the other men in the world were dead." Caroline stopped with a smile. "But if all the men  _and_ women  _and_ the  _un_ dead were dead, for good, then yeah, maybe."

"How considerate of you." Kol drawled, but they both appreciated the joke. "Sometimes I wonder if you protest just a little too much."

"No, its just that your ego is big enough as it is. Someone needs to bring you back down to Earth. And if Eva was actually playing fair, you'd be fine." Caroline said with her knack for getting back to the topic she wanted. "So. Don't give up. Okay?"

Kol sighed. "Why?"

"Because I agree with what your sister said a while back. You two work well together, anyone can see that." Caroline snatched the cornflakes from Kol's hands as he began to fiddle with it and use it as a distraction. "And I will not let your ship sink."

"My what?"

"Ship. Relation-ship?" She raised her hands in exasperation. "Just don't give up."

Kol was silent, trying to read her face for a long moment. Then he raised his eyebrows. "I'll have to have a good plan if I'm going to get her back by midnight."

Caroline's lips curled into a smile that was bordering on a replica of Klaus' calculating smirk. "Oh, leave that to me. Now, where is the liquor aisle?"

.

The Mikaelson house was in chaos.

It all started when Kol and Caroline returned from the shops with the items from the shopping list plus around a dozen bottles of different types of alcohol.

Eva took one look at the various types of rum, vodka, tequila and wine they had bought, and knew it wasn't the end. Klaus had gone down to the cellar with Elijah to pick out some more old favorites. Kol went to join his brothers at Caroline's suggestion, and Eva rounded instantly on the bubbly blonde.

"What are you planning, Carolina?"

"Nothing at all, Evie." Caroline's grin spoke of mischief. "I just want to welcome the New Year, and since you and I are both stuck here with the Mikaelsons and no means of escape, we might as well drink to survive. Or be entertained."

Eva narrowed her eyes while Caroline's widened with innocence. Eva studied the label on the coconut rum bottle.

"I still don't trust you."

"I never asked you to." Caroline replied, and Eva raised an eyebrow at her before nodding slowly.

"Fine." She accepted, before walking towards the lounge room and opening the bottle of rum. "But if that's the case, then I'm starting now. And this bottle is all mine. God knows I'll need it."

Rebekah entered the room just as Eva left, and watched her strut past with a wink to the Original Blonde before she sat on the couch. Rebekah frowned, glancing over to Caroline.

"What's going on, Caro-pop?"

"Beks, I have absolutely no idea." Caroline replied, and Rebekah was onto her plan in an instant.

"Matchmaking and scheming again, Caro?" Rebekah tsked. "I told you it wasn't the most attractive look." She heaved a sigh of regret. "However, I have to agree with your actions this one time" She smiled. "Let the battle commence."

It was chaos.

Kol trying to win over Eva.

Eva trying not to give in.

Caroline trying to get them both together.

Klaus trying to get Caroline alone (he was really not appreciating how his family took her from him little by little. She was  _his_.).

Rebekah drinking and watching the spectacles unfold.

Elijah trying to understand what on Earth was going on.

The six had gathered in the lounge room with the television on in the background for the fireworks and the other various light shows that would play throughout the night. Klaus, as usual, was over the whole showdown that went with New Years Eve – he had been through literally a thousand of them – but he was willing to celebrate the coming of the New Year. He had Caroline and he had broken the curse, he had every reason to celebrate.

However, Caroline had some other plans in mind. She got straight to business, topping everyones glasses till she deemed Eva and Kol tipsy and bored enough to play a drinking game.

"Spoons is an easy game, all you need to do is get four of the same card." Caroline explained, dealing out the cards on the coffee table. "So, four kings, or four sevens, etc. I'll be the dealer, so I'll look at my cards and then pick one up from the deck. If I don't want it, I pass it on to Rebekah. If I do, I choose one of my cards and give that to her. You never possess more than four cards. Got it?"

"Right. What happens when you get the set of four cards?" Eva asked, running a hand through her hair, mussing it slightly. Kol smoothed it back in place and she half-heartedly shot him a glare.

"That's the good bit. When you get the set, you pick up a spoon." Caroline tapped one of the spoons placed in between them all. "Once someone has picked up a spoon, anyone else can, regardless of whether or not they have a set of four. The person without a spoon," Caroline grinned, holding up the vodka bottle. "Has to take a shot."

"And now the game is interesting." Rebekah said, sitting cross legged in front of the table. "Right, I'm in."

"Me too." Eva agreed.

"Of course I'll play." Kol nodded.

"Elijah?" Caroline asked, doubting that Elijah would really take interest. He was happy to sit and drink and talk with them all, but he wouldn't play such a tawdry game.

"Apologies, but not this time."

Caroline nodded. "I'm sure we can find a game to suit your standards later."

"We shall see."

"Klaus?" Caroline glanced to Klaus, who seemed torn between amusement and irritation.

"Really? Not only are you setting up such a simple drinking game for my siblings to play, but you expect me to join?"

"Its fun."

"That could be argued."

"Its New Years Eve."

"And…?"

"New Years Eve is a time for drinking games."

"There are much more interesting games."

"Yes, but did you really want to play 'Never Have I Ever' or 'Strip Poker' with your siblings?"

Klaus snapped his mouth shut. "Very well."

The game started well, and Caroline was pleased, but it escalated far beyond her control very quickly. She supposed she could have predicted that Rebekah would complain about not getting to a spoon on time, and that Klaus would beat them all for the first few rounds as his reactions were faster than them all, but she didn't expect that Klaus would accept to lose for another few rounds just to get a drink so he could tolerate his siblings company.

The game ended as most games do, with an overreaction. Klaus had opted out after they had all turned on him for losing on purpose, and he sat with Caroline leaning back against him, drinking his whiskey moodily. Caroline and Rebekah played fairly, particularly due to their competitive natures. It was when Caroline grabbed the spoon and Rebekah followed suit that the game ended as Eva and Kol dived for the last spoon, both as stubborn as the other. Neither loosened their grip on the silverware, and ended up wrestling like children on the ground.

Caroline sat back in Klaus' arms with a huff.

"All the plotting getting to you, love? Think it best to give up now?" He murmured softly in her ear, brushing his lips over the skin of her neck in an effort to tempt her away.

Caroline sucked in an involuntary breath, but stuck stubbornly to her plan. "The sooner we get them drunk and together, the sooner this chaos is over."

Klaus' growl hummed low, the vibration shooting through his chest to hers, a sign of his impatience only intended for her.

"Give me the spoon!" Eva insisted.

"Make me!" Kol said thoughtlessly, his eyes widening as Eva flipped them so she was on top and in control, leaning down, her nose just brushing against his as her eyes gazed into his. The hand that wasn't trying to grapple Kol's out of the grip he had on the silver spoon slowly descended down the side of his chest, and as his breath caught, his grasp loosened, and Eva lifted the spoon out of his reach victoriously.

"Ha!" Eva cried, smoothly standing up and going to sit on the couch while Kol lay on the floor, still uncertain of what had just happened. "Oh, my lovely, you really do need to start thinking with the head that's at the top of your body."

"I'm  _your_  lovely now, am I?" Kol said quizzically, and Eva frowned, tossing the spoon back on the coffee table with a clunk.

"Well, I think we're over this game. Any others, Caroline?" Eva asked.

"No more games." Rebekah shook her head. "Lets go out!"

All three of the men groaned their protest in unison. Caroline, who had had far less to drink than the others, came up with part 2 of her plan.

"Okay, how about you boys go do some more brother bonding." She said, hopping up out of Klaus' embrace and grabbing Rebekah and Eva by the hands to lead them to the kitchen.

"But we've had plenty of time." Klaus said. "I don't want to bond anymore. I've had enough of my family to last me through the next century."

"How kind of you to take our feelings into regard, Niklaus." Elijah said dryly.

"You I can handle, its Kol that I can't stand."

"That hurt, Nik. That hurt me terribly." Kol pouted.

Caroline merely scowled at Klaus. "This is exactly why you need to do this." She raised her eyebrows at him, trying to convince him as she shepherded Eva and Rebekah into the other room.

Kol finally picked up on the fact that Caroline was separating the group according to gender.

"Hold up, where are you and my sister and Eva going then?"

"Girl talk."

"Oh, I want to be there for that."

"Kol, I wouldn't let you near me with a ten foot pole." Eva said with a slight slur, mixing up at least two different sayings.

"Well luckily I have a slightly shorter pole, but I'm sure it'll satisfy you." Kol grinned, dodging the pillow Rebekah sent his way but not managing to dodge the spoon Klaus flicked at his forehead, frowning as the metal clanged off his temple harmlessly.

"Been there, done that, got exceptionally bored." Eva scoffed, promptly leaving the room before the banter could continue.

Caroline glared at Kol, flicking her hands and motioning him to shove off and leave it to her to take care of.

The three girls disappeared into the other room, and Elijah sat back with a bewildered expression.

"Would someone care to enlighten me?"

"Not particularly." Kol grumbled, refusing to meet Elijah's frown.

"Kol is trying to get with the charming Eva again, and she is not having a bar of it." Klaus said with a grin that slid off his face as he continued. "This is resulting in the usual foolishness of those who get emotionally involved, and Caroline convincing herself that she can change the situation by devoting to its success rather than to me."

"I see. So Kol is miserable because he cannot get what he wants, and you, Niklaus, are miserable because you cannot get what you want." Elijah said with a sigh. "Seems as if neither of you have learnt from your selfish, foolish ways."

"Very wise, brother, but tell me, when have I ever not got my way? And how has your selflessness rewarded you over the years?" Klaus said, knowing that Elijah had lost over the years, and lost things to Klaus himself, due to his altruism.

"Do not remind me of that tonight, Niklaus. You would be wise not to test me." Elijah reminded him, and Klaus backed down respectfully. He recalled their talk earlier that day before breakfast, by far one of their most honest and ever so slightly uncomfortable conversations in the past thousand years. Klaus had to eventually admit that the beautiful baby vampire was growing on him in ways he hadn't anticipated, and that he had perhaps been slightly too brash about his previous statements about Elijah's 'weak' emotions. Elijah had in return admitted to harboring feelings for each of the Petrova doppelgangers, and Klaus had commented that perhaps his older brother should venture out of the box and not fall for Elena or Katherine again over the next century or so.

"I'd be happy to test you, Elijah." Kol offered, and Elijah, who was not in the mood for such trivial games with his brother, clenched his jaw and breathed through his nose.

"Go for a walk, brother." Klaus suggested, grabbing Kol by the collar and pulling him towards the den. "I'll fix our younger brother if you sort out your own concerns."

"How are you fixing me?" Kol asked as he struggled pointlessly against Klaus' grip, before being released in the den while Klaus shut the door behind him. He switched on the lights, and the two stain glass lanterns that hung over the pool table came to life with a warm glow.

"Rack them up, Kol." Klaus said, picking his pool cue. "We've got a long night ahead of us, and I want to spend most of it with Caroline, since she's the only person in this house who has an ounce of light in them."

"Stop it, Caroline." Eva sighed, swigging another mouthful miserably from the bottle of tequila before biting down on a lemon wedge. "It's not going to happen."

"But it could." Caroline said resolutely, passing the bottle to Rebekah without drinking, too focused on proving the case to Eva. "You just are playing chicken and ignoring it because you're worried about what will happen if you actually give in."

"She's right, Eva." Rebekah said. "She may be a bitch, but she's right."

"Exactly," Caroline nodded, elbowing Rebekah for her comment but standing beside her to show Eva a united front.

"You and my brother are meant to be stupid together for all eternity."

"Or at least for as long as you can stand him." Caroline added. "But regardless of anything, he is your epic love."

"You use that phrase too often, Caro-pop." Rebekah warned.

"You're Kol's lobster." Caroline amended, quoting one of her favorite old sitcoms.

"Lobster?" Eva tilted her head, and Rebekah raised her eyebrows.

"Are you drunk, Caroline?"

"Wait, you guys haven't seen…don't you know  _Friends_?" Caroline stuttered without thinking.

"Why are we talking about friends now?" Rebekah shook her head.

"I don't even…just come with me."

Caroline gathered the girls around a laptop and searched Youtube to find the lobster theory  _Friends_  episode she had in mind. An hour later, the girls were still looking through related  _Friends_  scenes.

"I clearly should have made time for television in the ninties." Eva said.

"I can't believe Nik had me daggered in a box when I could have been watching this." Rebekah said.

"Anyway, we're off topic, do you understand what I'm saying now? You and Kol, you're perfect." Caroline got Eva's attention, and the girl sighed.

"Its too hard to give it a go."

"You don't need to give it a go. You need to take a chance." Caroline never thought she would use the same expression Klaus said to her, but it was the right thing to say. Eva looked thoughtful, but not convinced, and Caroline knew she had to revert back to plan B.

"Lets forget about that for now. Its New Years, right? And what did you want to do, Beks?"

"Go out?" Rebekah smiled, but then frowned as she recalled the time. "Perhaps we can bring the party to us." She said, navigating the laptop with her new technological skills and choosing an upbeat song to play.

Caroline grinned, taking a swig of tequila. "Lets dance!"

Elijah did take a stroll as his brother suggested. He walked down the middle of the road as the snow started to fall softly around him. He could hear other parties in other neighbourhoods and other homes while everyone celebrated in the final hour before the new year.

Another year on this Earth to add to the thousand he had walked alone. Granted, Niklaus had brought back the family, had even made it stronger as they united against the threat that had arisen in the shape of their own parents. Niklaus had even reunited voluntarily with his siblings due to the compassionate magic of the divine Miss Caroline Forbes. The girl changed his brother for the better, and he somehow brought out a stronger, more radiant side to her, and he wished them well. However, it rubbed against him in a brutal way. Niklaus had always lived by the motto of not caring or feeling, and yet here he was, clearly doing both. Even if Niklaus hadn't become aware of them, even if his brother had not spoke to Caroline of his own motto or the fact that he was breaking it, it still posed a question to Elijah that did not concern anyone else.

Should Elijah continue to follow it?

His brother himself had admitted this morning that he had been wrong to judge emotions so harshly, and that perhaps Elijah was the one in the right. Yet feeling and caring had brought him nothing but pain, and he had closed himself off to such trivial matters.

Perhaps he should continue to follow the motto.

And just as Elijah concluded that train of thought, he came upon a woman huddled in her coat and leaning against the streetlight, illuminated in the dark by the patch of yellow light she stood beneath. A glowing cigarette flickered between her lips as she sucked in a smoky breath. Despite his normal rules and guidelines, Elijah felt drawn towards her. He blamed it on the fact that the company at the house was far worse, and that he needed to talk to someone nice, normal and human.

Boy was he wrong.

Plus he knew that smoking would ruin human lungs, and he shouldn't let such a lovely young thing go to waste. A noble knight through and through, trying to rescue the damsel in distress.

Boy was he wrong twice over.

"They will kill you, you know." Elijah commented as he came to a halt beside the woman.

Two chocolate brown eyes locked onto his and he felt something twinge inside his ribcage.

"Fair point." The woman conceded in velvety tones. "Its lucky that I don't have a death wish then."

"They will still kill you regardless of wishing it or otherwise." Elijah countered.

The corner of her mouth tugged up in a lopsided smile that the thousand year old vampire found instantly charming.

"You've convinced me." She said, tossing the cigarette to the ground and flattening it under the ball of her foot on the damp pavement.

"Good." Elijah said, for once at a loss for words. He didn't know what could be said next, but he found himself wishing that he did have something to say. The woman looked at him, not expectantly, but with curiosity, as if he interested her but she didn't necessarily anticipate a response.

After a few beats, he nodded and continued to walk down the street.

He was nearly twenty paces away when she called out softly after him, the sound carrying through the snow covered streets.

"Would you like some company? I could use a walk with fresh air."

"By all means, please allow me to accompany you," Elijah said, turning back. She was already closer than he thought, and she looked at him with a twinkle in her eye.

"I don't need you to 'accompany' me. I'm not a woman who needs a chaperone."

Her gumption was refreshing. "Then, please, allow me to enjoy the pleasure of your company." He said, earning a real smile.

"The pleasure is all mine."

The two walked along the snow covered streets together.

Klaus and Kol finished up their game and their game-plan talk and walked up the stairs to find the three girls dancing around the living room on the couches, singing along with the music.

"Are we in some alternate world, or is this really happening?" Kol asked his brother quietly, waiting for the girls to notice them. They didn't.

"This is happening." Klaus confirmed.

The brothers watched Caroline and Eva pose with each other as Rebekah took photos. In between poses, they danced and laughed. Klaus and Kol couldn't take their eyes off them as they swayed.

"We're going to Hell, aren't we." Kol murmured to his brother again, and Klaus shook his head and elbowed his younger brother.

"Get a grip."

"Hello brother dears." Rebekah greeted, aiming the camera at them. The two were immediately on the other side of the room away from the lens. "Well, you two are no fun."

"Caroline, you're beautiful, and I'll happily allow you to do what you want to a point, but I've had enough." Klaus said bluntly, running his thumb over the knuckles of her hand as he held it. "Shall we take a walk?"

"Oh, just a little while longer…" Caroline tried to be strong willed, but she spied Kol and Eva talking and her resolve broke. "You're right. Lets walk. But just one more minute."

Klaus sighed, a growl present in his breath. "I'll be timing it."

Caroline flashed over to Rebekah and pressed something into her palm.

"What's this, darling?" She frowned at Caroline, who looked at her knowingly.

"A little late Christmas present. Its already paid for, so you can make that long distance call." She smiled as Rebekah frowned gently in a different type of confusion.

"How did you know? No one else knows. Not any of them."

"I just know." Caroline said, seeing Rebekah light up. "Happy New Year." She hugged the Original Blonde, and quickly joined Klaus again while Rebekah took the present to the other room.

Kol and Eva were already nowhere to be found.

Elijah and the woman walked and talked along the street for the rest of the hour leading up to midnight. He only just realized when the people in the houses around them came out to the street to see the fireworks.

"Did you need to get back to your party?"

"I'm sure they'll be fine without me." She chuckled.

"Surely your friends must be worried." He pressed, concerned.

"I doubt it." She replied, sidling closer conspiratorially. "I was actually gate crashing."

"I see." Elijah replied, not judgmental as he usually would be, but intrigued. "How didn't you have plans for New Years Eve?"

"How didn't you?" The woman shot back. "Some fancy stranger like you roaming the streets at night, and you didn't have other plans?"

"Not any that particularly caught my interest." Elijah replied, and then recalled that he hadn't exchanged names with the woman who was currently holding his attention.

"Forgive me, I rudely did not introduce myself. My name is Elijah."

He watched her carefully to see if his name brought about any change, any slight fear that would be present in a vampire who knew of the Originals, but he saw none. He still couldn't tell if she were human or not, but he assumed the former.

The woman nodded with a smile. "Lovely to meet you, Elijah."

"Might I ask for your name?"

"You might."

"What is your name?" He asked, curiosity piqued as he went along with her game.

"Nothing of great importance."

"Please," He said simply, and she glanced at him, then to the people around them as they counted down into the New Year.

10…

9…

8…

" _Hello?"_

"Hey, its me." Rebekah smiled at the sound of the person on the other end of the line.

" _Bekah! I didn't even know if you'd be able to call. How…?_ "

"Caroline." She shook her head. "I don't even know how she knew, but…"

" _That girl is a genius. I owe her one."_

Rebekah sighed. "I know. I owe her many times over."

" _How is your New Years going?_ "

"Oh, fine, good…to be honest, dreadful without you." Rebekah bit her lip. "I miss you."  
" _I miss you too, Rebekah._ "

She smiled like the lovestruck girl she secretly was.

7…

6…

5…

"Kol, you have just a little while till the New Year." Eva reminded him.

"I know." Kol hedged. He had actually planned for this moment, had flirted and seduced to get to it, but now he was here, his words ran dry.

Eva looked up at him, half expecting something, but knowing that she ought to be expecting the worst rather than the best.

"Right. I assumed as much – "

"Just give me a damn second, Evangeline." Kol snapped, and Eva huffed indignantly but remained where she was.

"Eva…don't go. Stay."

"Why should I?"

"Because I'm admittedly the best lay you've had in your life, and you're obviously mine."

She raised her eyebrows. "That's exactly what I expected from you, Kol. That's why I'm leaving." She turned, but he was already there in front of her.

"I wasn't done." Kol sucked in a breath. "You should stay because you don't have anywhere else to go where you feel this happy, this alive, this free. Because this is the family that we've all chosen. Because there's something that keeps us coming back together, and it isn't just the mind-blowing sex or the arguments or the teasing and fighting and talking. Because I belong with you and you belong with me. Because I want you here for everything you bring to me."

It was the most honest thing Kol had said in years, and Eva was reduced to just breathing, and even that was too much to concentrate on.

Kol started to panic at her silence. "That clearly wasn't the right thing to say. Shit. Umm, because you like the Mikaelson houses, and you like beating me in chess games and you like the coffee my family buys and – "

Eva shut him up with a kiss as the seconds ticked down to midnight.

4…

3…

2…

Klaus and Caroline walked through the large garden out the back that had been covered by a soft blanket of snow.

"No more interruptions. You're mine and I just want you to be mine for the rest of tonight and this morning. And potentially many days after that." Klaus said possessively, making Caroline smile even as she tried to hold it back.

"You know, possessiveness isn't an attractive trait."

"And yet somehow you find it attractive on me."

Caroline had no come back for that, and Klaus smirked to himself.

"I hope Kol and Eva worked out everything…" Caroline said, and Klaus caught her attention with a growl.

"I'm sure they'll be fine, sweetheart. You've done enough to help them."

"Jealous of the lack of attention on you?" She asked sweetly.

"Naturally. You've spoilt me with your attentions." Klaus said, and there was slightly too much of an innuendo on the word  _attentions_. Rather than give into the heated smolder Klaus sent her way, Caroline scooped up a handful of snow and tossed it at the hybrid. It powdered his shoulder, but she knew from how the look in his eyes changed that she had started a war.

Caroline shrieked and ran, dodging behind trees as Klaus attempted to pelt her with snowballs. She threw several back over her shoulder towards him but only a few made their mark, and all too soon he tackled her, sending her falling lightly to the ground as he held his weight off her just enough to trap her in the snow.

Caroline giggled helplessly against him like the girl she still was, and Klaus fed off her radiance, joy and laughter that made her practically glow. He lay down next to her in the snow, but she closed the small gap between them, burrowing into his side.

"I never thought I'd end up here." Caroline said.

"What, in the snow? You started that." Klaus answered, and she laughed again.

"No, I mean here. With your crazy siblings and you, halfway across the world. Mostly the with you part."

Klaus studied her face as if what he might find there could be life changing.

"Would you change anything?"

"No, never." Caroline said instantly and honestly. He watched her watch him, the snowflakes dusting across her nose and eyelashes.

1…

Happy New Year

The woman brushed a soft, chaste kiss across Elijah's lips as he stood stock still and surprised with unknowing humans around them.

"Gwen. My name is Gwen. Happy New Year, Elijah."

"Happy New Year, Gwen."

.

" _Will I see you soon?_ "

"Of course. I'll see you as soon as I can."

" _Can't wait. Happy New Year, Rebekah."_

"Happy New Year."

.

Kol and Eva didn't bother saying Happy New Year to each other. They were otherwise preoccupied, and Eva didn't have the heart to tell him that she could technically leave since it wasn't till at least ten minutes after midnight that they fell into Kol's bed together.

.

Klaus and Caroline watched the fireworks explode in the sky above them, tinting them in colours far too bright to be watercolour, but far too light to be paint.

Klaus had seen fireworks many more times than Caroline, and so he elected instead to watch her and her reactions, memorizing how the light cast shadows and illuminated her face, and how her eyes danced at the sight of the fireworks that flickered away to nothing as they showered down like rain.

Eventually she looked over to see him watching her. Her questioning look prompted his own speech.

"You know, I always believed Elijah to be the foolish one, what with all of those emotions getting in the way, and all wasted on someone like Katarina Petrova. Kol was lustful, but not foolish, and I did not bother to get attached. And yet here we are, going to all lengths and being ridiculous to get in your favor."

"And our pants." She added cheekily.

"Naturally. But it's more. We care for you to stick around. We want you for more than a few mere hours. And that is why we are foolish, for we stake our lives on the small chance that we might actually succeed in making you stay. And Elijah, in that regard, is the wisest of us all, for not only limiting himself and not having someone for the time being, but for understanding that emotions are strong and you must embrace them to be strong, or they will overpower you."

Silence.

Klaus wondered if he had given the game away before he had even had a chance to realize it for himself.

But then Caroline kissed him ever so sweetly, as a thank you for opening up, and as a reassurance.

This was a new year. A new chance. And a new promise.

_I will stay. I will stay with you. Always._


	22. New Adventures

Klaus had an immovable scowl stuck on his face as he followed the near skipping Caroline out of the airplane in Istanbul – Caroline's first portion of her planned journey.

"Come on, Klaus, you promised." She called over her shoulder as she walked over to the conveyor belt to collect their bags.

"Yes, but I said nothing about being compliant." He reminded her, and she rolled her eyes.

"Well I said nothing about accepting you being a complete sourface just because you aren't the one in control."

"I don't need you to accept it."

"Klaus!" Caroline frowned, before taking a deep breath. Throwing a tantrum would only make her just as bad as he was. "Please?"

"Please what?" Klaus grumbled, refusing to look her in the eye as she drew closer. He knew that as soon as he did, he would be glad to do anything she asked, and he had to get a grip. He was a thousand years old, for pity's sake, and one flutter of this girls' eyes had him doing anything she asked for.

"Please just enjoy this?"

Klaus scoffed, and Caroline ducked her head, trying to catch his eye.

"Or at least lose the frown. C'mon, let me see that absolutely irritatingly charming smirk."

The said smirk began to creep onto Klaus' face despite himself.

"Please, Nik?" Caroline finally caught his gaze, and she smiled, tilting her head up to kiss him softly. "Thank you."

Klaus kissed her again before pulling away. "We shouldn't do that once we're outside."

"What do you mean?"

"Common etiquette, sweetheart." He retrieved their bags before returning his gaze to her confused face. "No displays of affection in public places, especially historic ones, or anywhere more than fifty years old. We don't want to offend anyone here."

"Klaus Mikaelson, the great and almighty, doesn't want to offend anyone here?" Caroline teased, and he chuckled a little in spite of himself.

"Just be thankful that you are one of the few that could say that and still walk away with your heart intact."

Caroline wasn't so sure she did still walk away with her heart intact. She was fairly certain he might have taken it from her.

They caught a taxi under Caroline's instruction and, once their bags were in the room, returned to walk the streets of Istanbul. Caroline marveled at the Grand Bazaar that bursted with light and life, and she couldn't help but notice how Klaus seemed to enjoy the sights and sounds too. Or at least look slightly amused by it. Either way, she felt as if she were accomplishing something. Klaus had only visited Istanbul a few times over the centuries, and knew only slightly more than Caroline in regards to its history, so she felt that they were slightly evenly matched, finally.

She raised the camera around her neck and took a few shots of Klaus wandering from stall to stall, attention diverted, until he caught her.

 _Click_.

There. She captured that slight smirk. Caroline lowered the camera to grin at him, and he walked over to join her, still making a point of not touching her, even in the crowded space between the stalls. She hadn't known how much she would miss his touch. She had barely given the rule thought as she booked the trip, not fully realizing just how often they did touch. She could even feel herself getting agitated without his soothing, calming touch.

Klaus tilted his head and caught her eye, and Caroline knew that her frustration was showing, and that he somehow knew why. He could read her so well sometimes. Klaus mimicked her expression and smoothed his own wrinkled brow with his hand, expressing wordlessly what he wanted to do to calm her, were it not for the customs. She smiled, her thoughts instantly clearing along with her troubled expression, and puckered her lips subtly to blow a kiss as thanks. He winked slyly at her, and they continued onwards, their hands magnetically drawn towards one another's but forced to remain apart.

They visited the Faith Mosque at Caroline's insistence. Klaus in all honesty couldn't care much about religion, seeing as he had witnessed how it had caused war and chaos over the last thousand years. In his opinion, the only tolerable thing it had created was art of all shapes and forms. Yet he did admire Caroline's fresh view on all different religions. Entering places of religious worship such as this brought such a serene look to her face as she studied the architecture and artwork around her. She had explained to him in one of their late night conversations between the pillows and sheets that she let the religious feeling of the building wash over her; let herself be at peace with the aura of the place of worship. She said that it was the fruitiest thing she had ever told anyone, and that she would deny it if he ever brought it up again, but in a way, he understood what she did and why she did it. And there, framed in between arches in the mosque, with her shining hair covered respectfully in a thin scarf, she looked absolutely beautiful, with a wisdom that was beyond her age. She was a truly stunning creature, and despite everything, he knew he would never fully understand her, and he liked that. She was the puzzle he would be tempted to spend the rest of his life working out.

Caroline turned back and smiled at him, her hand outstretched to take his until she remembered the etiquette and let her arm fall, her smile for him still on her face.

They walked back through the streets to find a place for dinner.

" _Normal_  dinner." Caroline emphasized. "With food grown from the ground or something. Not people."

"Wouldn't dream of it, love." Klaus said with a heavy dose of sarcasm, but still complied and took in the delights of a traditional Turkish bar with Caroline.

He'd do anything to please her, to win her affections again and again despite everything he did and everything he would continue to do. He was the monster that stalked the streets at night, and she was a guardian angel, he was the tiger and she was a sleek feline with a hidden fierceness, and yet when they were together everything was put aside into an alternate universe and they could simply just be.

Caroline instantly highlighted something after the Turkish meal that she knew she would have potentially not done if she had still been human.

"Really, sweetheart? You want to try the  _narghile_?" Klaus looked at her incredulously as she waved a waiter over and pointed to the traditional Turkish water pipe printed on the menu, since Klaus had only a limited Turkish vocabulary and Caroline had far less. She made a mental note to start learning languages properly, particularly after the little breakfast incident in Italy.

"It's not like I can get cancer or some lung disease from it. Let me have my naive life experiences." She said in response to Klaus' question, and he shrugged.

"Don't say I didn't warn you, because I don't think you'll like it the first time."

"Well they say that about many things," Caroline said cryptically. "And yet here we are."

Klaus cocked his head slightly and surveyed her face as she returned his gaze levelly. They remained in that locked, calculating position till the waiter returned with the apple flavored tobacco and pipe as requested and set it down alongside their cups of Turkish coffee after setting up the coals for the pipe.

Caroline was eager to try until she realized that she had never seen someone smoke one of these before, had only heard about them in Arabian Nights tales and funny stories from kids at school whose brothers uncles best friend had tried it once or twice. She was acutely aware of Klaus and his smirk on the edge of her vision, and so she stubbornly picked up the mouthpiece and inhaled the smoke.

Her eyes immediately widened and she choked, dropping the tube and coughing. She could feel the burning sensation fade quickly as her body healed itself, but the sting from the apple flavoring still remained, bringing unintended water to her eyes. Klaus rubbed a quick soothing hand across her back, finally with an excuse to touch her as she recovered. His touch healed her faster than any blood or supernatural power, and she was soon breathing normally again.

"How do people enjoy that?" She asked in disbelief, looking at the small delicate glass instrument as if it were about to jump up and bite her.

"Nonsense, love, you just weren't doing it right." Klaus said, picking up the discarded mouth pipe and taking a drag, letting the smoke curl out of his mouth with ease.

Caroline watched with fascination. "How did you do that?"

"Simple. Don't inhale the smoke into your lungs like a cigarette. Its an art form, its meant to be savored." He nodded for her to pick up the pipe line, and she did so tentatively, attempting to do as he instructed and let the smoke swirl into her mouth before blowing it back out into the night air.

"Better?" He asked.

"Interesting." She allowed, rolling her tongue around her mouth to get used to the feeling and taste that the pipe brought. She watched and Klaus took another puff, blowing it out in smoke rings.

"Show off." Caroline scoffed.

"It's what I do best, love. You know how much I like to amaze you."

She laughed, taking another cautious drag. Klaus attempted to teach her how to blow smoke rings.

"Where did you learn how to do all this anyway?" Caroline asked. She couldn't imagine Klaus puffing away on smokes like a steam engine, but she also couldn't imagine Stefan and Klaus being the best of buds, and both of those things would have probably happened around the same time, seeing as smoking was popular in the Roaring 20s.

"It's not my first time in Istanbul, sweetheart. And I was around in a time where it was both the exotic and social thing to do while travelling through places such as this." Klaus said casually.

Though the tobacco usually had a more relaxing, lethargic effect on humans, it took a little more than that to have an effect on the two supernatural beings. However, that didn't stop the slightly warming feelings of contentment that sharing a pipe brought. Caroline thought Klaus looked as laid back as he would ever be.

"So you're saying that the rest of your family have indulged in this too?"

"Not at all. Could you imagine Elijah or even Rebekah doing this?"

Caroline shook her blonde curls. "But Kol?"

"Yes."

"A little brother bonding time?"

"More so than the Salvatores, in any case."

Caroline blew out her smoke meditatively, and Klaus inhaled some of the thick white cloud, trying to taste her on the air. She noticed with a grin, and repeated his action herself when he let out his own breath of smoke, leaning in closer. When she breathed out her next puff, he shifted towards her so he was merely a foot away, and Caroline felt her pulse race at the look in his eyes.

She waited till he was about to breathe out his next mouthful of smoke, and swiftly pressed her lips to his, breathing in some of the smoke and touching his tongue with hers only for a fraction of a second before leaning back and away from him. She glanced around to ensure that no one had seen the vampire speed move, and blew out the borrowed smoke while returning her eyes to his. She giggled; Klaus looked completely shell-shocked by her bold move, his expression waning towards desire when he realized he wanted to repeat the action again and again.

"The pipe's almost finished." Caroline noted in a casual tone, trying and failing to hide her triumphant smirk.

"Good. Lets go back to the hotel, sweetheart." Klaus said in a dark, deliciously deep voice.

Caroline felt every ounce of longing and craving, but while her body begged her to agree with him and go back to the privacy of the hotel room, she still wanted to explore the new city.

"I think I've still got some of Istanbul's nightlife to see."

Klaus frowned, unaccustomed to not getting his way, but he sighed compliantly. "Fine. Another hour at most, and then," He leaned forward slightly and licked his lips. "Then I get you all to myself, agreed?"

"Agreed." Caroline murmured.

Klaus smirked. "Excellent."

The streets at this time of night were still thriving, as stalls remained open to catch the tourists and the club-goers. Though Rebekah had warned Caroline about dressing modestly and how women were occasionally harassed with cat-calls from the men, the baby vampire was still surprised at how the local men stared after her. She felt a slight blush rise to her cheeks at the attention, and quelled it by holding her head high. Even so, when they came to a secluded street, Klaus cornered her, not touching her but trapping her against the stone wall with his arms on either side.

"Why are we here?" He growled in hushed tones.

"What do you mean?" She murmured back, a furrow in her brow as she tried to read his face.

"Why are we in a country where men not only leer openly at you, but I cannot even touch you to show that you're mine, and will never be theirs?"

Caroline frowned even more at the possessiveness in his words, and she slipped out from under his arm before he could stop her, continuing to walk down the street.

"I like it here, Klaus. The culture and history interests me. If you don't like it, you can wait back at the hotel."

"Doubtful, love." He scoffed. "The moment I leave, they'll be all over you, like bees to honey."

"So what, you'll stay and mope just so you can 'protect' me?" She snapped.

"Of course." He nodded calmly, strolling along behind her with his hands clasped behind his back in his usual dominant posture. In truth, it was just so he could stop himself from reaching for her.

"I'm a  _vampire_ , Klaus." She hissed, before continuing at a normal volume. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Without your help."

Klaus stopped momentarily, then turned sharply.

"Very well then."

Caroline paused, glancing back. "Where are you going?"

"Back to the hotel. You don't need me, I presume."

She knew he was sulking, but she also knew that she hadn't exactly been kind. She did need him, more than he knew, but she needed independence too.

Plus she was just as stubborn as he was.

"Fine." She snapped, continuing down the alley. When she glanced back before continuing on the next street, he was gone.

Caroline had no problems roaming by herself. She hadn't had much time alone since teaming up with the Mikaelsons, and while she had actually come to enjoy time with all of them, she did like the stolen moment of isolation.

However, it was short lived. As she strolled through the colorful stalls and glowing lanterns, the locals openly stared at her bright blonde hair and cream skin. She was the exotic one, for a change, but despite her new strength and naïve small-town sensibilities, she felt uncomfortable.

Then the harassment began.

At first it was just a few brushes of hands against her arm. She thought not much of it, it wasn't crowded on the streets but it was easy enough to accidently brush past someone.

Then Caroline noticed the murmurs.

"Seksi."

"Ateşli,"

"Seksi kimse."

"Sıcak turistik."

She kept her head down. Maybe it was time to go home to the hotel and Klaus. Caroline turned the corner and went down another alley like the one before. A couple of the murmurers from before followed her, questioning.

"Benim evime gel!"

She made the mistake of looking back questioningly, and they pestered her further, reverting to accented English.

"You a tourist?"

"What are you doing out so late by yourself?"

"Go away." She said, but the men cornered her.

"Did you get all dressed up for me?"

"You a Natasha?"

"How much?"

"I said, go away." Caroline said forcefully, pushing at their hands. She remembered she was a vampire and kicked herself mentally, wondering why in her fear she hadn't thought of that simple fact.

"Let go of me!" She growled, fangs bared and eyes flashing red.

The men took notice of that very quickly, scrambling backwards.

"Iblis!"

"Vampir!"

"Tüymek!"

The men stumbled over each other in their haste to flee, and they found their way barred by a figure in the middle of the alleyway.

Klaus.

Caroline had never been happier to see him.

"Where do you think you're going?" He said softly, viciously, and she knew that their deaths would be slow. It sent a shiver through her.

"Get out of the way, run!" The men pushed at him, still thinking that Caroline was the most fearsome thing in the alley, not realizing that the bigger danger was right before them.

"That's right. You should run." Klaus said with his trademark frightening glower, and the men tripped backwards again. He started towards one who began to scream, ripping out his tongue before his lungs quickly followed the same path. The other two had their throats torn out in one effortless maneuver. Klaus straightened himself with a frown, wondering where the fourth had hidden himself. Caroline noticed first, as the man moved towards Klaus' back with a piece of wood from one of the shattered alley crates. She ran towards him without thought.

It would be her second stupid, thoughtless action of the night.

The man's heart was ripped out of his chest and in her palm in a matter of seconds.

Klaus gazed at Caroline in disbelief, watching as she stood there with fierce, glowing eyes, an avenging angel, before realizing what she had just done.

"Oh," She said in a tiny voice, before dropping the organ to the ground next to the man and holding her hands away from herself as if she wished there were a way to detach them from her body.

"Easy, love, easy," Klaus rushed to her side, supporting her weight as she staggered. He held her, but she didn't cry, she just held her hands out as if they didn't exist anymore. He stood there with his arms wrapped around her for a moment before speaking.

"You should get cleaned up."

"Okay." She said in that same small voice, and it tore right through him. Klaus refused to let it show, choosing instead to run back to the hotel with her as fast as he could possibly go, arriving at the room in just under a minute.

Upon opening the door and shepherding Caroline into the room, it became clear that she would need a little more help. She stood in the middle of the living room, her eyes dim, the blood staining her hands a fearsome shade of red.

"Shower?" Klaus prompted, before realizing he would need to lead her there too. He was unaccustomed to having to look after anyone, particularly in such a delicate scenario, and yet he didn't feel like running away from this. He needed to be there for her. He wanted to be there for her. He led her to the bathroom and washed the blood off her hands in the sink as if she were an invalid.

It was sometime after the pinkish water had swirled down the drain that Caroline blinked and became more aware.

"Nik?"

"Mmm?"

"Can I have a moment alone? I might take a shower." She shifted her arms slightly. "I don't feel all that great."

"Of course, love." He nodded, pausing for a moment to look at her before leaving and closing the bathroom door behind him. It felt wrong to touch her after she had been through such a thing. He didn't know how.

Klaus changed out of his clothes into a t-shirt and sweats, tossing the blood spattered garments in the bin. There was no use keeping them to be dry-cleaned. He heard the shower still going, and wondered if Caroline was all right, eventually opening the door to the bathroom again.

Caroline sat on the tiled floor of the shower, dress still on, soaked to the bone, staring into nothing, shuddering as the water pelted down on her and trickled across her skin. Klaus hesitated for a second before joining her, sitting down next to her and letting his clothes get wet while waiting for her to acknowledge his presence.

"Nik, I can't wash it off."

"Wash off what?"

"The blood." She held out a shaking hand, and he took it gently in both of his. "The blood is still there."

Klaus traced his fingers slowly over her palm, examining her clean skin. He curled his fingers over hers to bend them and see the nails, which were again spotless. He spared a glance to her face, noticing how she continued to analyze the tiles on the ground as if they were her mortal soul laid bare on the floor in the bathroom. He should have known she would have to kill at some point. They were killers by instinct, the animal and predator of humanity brought out with bloodlust. He should have stayed with her. He should have protected her from her own self. He had never taken into account just how much it could affect her.

Klaus gently sucked on the tips of each of her fingers, the pad of each digit against the pad of his tongue, as he tasted for blood and found nothing but the delicious taste of Caroline's skin. The action and sensations it brought with it anchored Caroline more firmly to the present time, and she huddled closer to Klaus's warm body.

"Is it gone now?" He murmured, and she nodded into his shoulder.

"Yes. Thank you."

He wrapped a tentative arm around her, and they sat in the shower being steadily pattered by lukewarm water.

"I was doing so well." Caroline murmured in such a small voice even Klaus wasn't entirely sure he had heard her correctly. He decided it was best not to question the words regardless. It was an age later that Klaus finally broke the silence.

"Why did you do it?" He was the most powerful being, completely indestructible, and yet she, the baby vampire, had jumped to defend him from a simple attack. At most, he would have received a cut that would have healed faster than she could exclaim that he was injured, and that was only if the man had managed to catch him completely off guard.

Caroline was silent, but Klaus could tell that she was considering his question with the intent to give an answer. However, when none came, he accepted that she couldn't even understand what had driven her to do so reckless a thing.

"Come on, sweetheart." He said, standing and reaching down to help her up. "Lets get you warm and dry."

Caroline looked first at his hand and then him. He couldn't read the mixture of emotions in her eyes, but somehow they didn't seem linked to the attack or the guilt she felt. Klaus shrugged it off and carefully took her hand, helping her to stand before swooping her into his arms and carrying her slowly down the hall. He watched her, trying to figure her out, trying to understand why she felt the need to defend him with the fierce power of a lioness. She watched him, fighting with something in her mind that he wished he could know.

Klaus set her down on the hardwood floor and retrieved a large white towel that he wrapped around her to take off some of the excess water. He went about the room, grabbing his henley shirt that he knew she liked to wear and the shorts that she said were so comfy that she refused to throw them out despite the wear and tear of the fabric.

Caroline watched him without moving an inch. It was truly astounding. The hybrid who never helped anyone, never took care of anything or anyone in a remotely compassionate sense, was trying to comfort her. It was so close to normal, and yet so far from what she had ever expected of Klaus.

Klaus noticed that she wasn't moving, and he set down the dry clothes for her to wear, returning to her and helping her unzip the dress and peel it from her so it landed on the floor with a dull  _thwack_. Her bra and panties followed suit.

She shivered with the new thoughts entering her head, and he misunderstood, wrapping the towel around her again, rubbing her shoulders to keep her warm. Caroline looked up at him, her eyes travelling up from the sliver of collarbone his shirt revealed, up the curve of his Adams apple, up past the moles scattered lovingly across the smooth skin of his throat, up past every single bit of stubble that adorned his ridiculously charmingly handsome face, past his jaw line and his perfect mouth and wonderful nose to finally,  _finally_ , meet his incredibly deep, ever-changing eyes. It was only after a moment as she gazed at him with her new view that she realized the body she had inched forwards to press against was damp.

"You need to dry off too, Nik." Caroline noted, her cold fingers fumbling to find the edge of his shirt.

"Don't care." Klaus answered simply, concentrating on getting her dry.

"Nik, love, c'mon." She sighed, unpeeling his shirt from his body, unaware of the pet name that she had let slip. He stared down at her, but when she met his gaze questioningly, he simply smiled slightly and shook his head. He took hold of the henley and pulled it over her head, dressing her. It contrasted so completely with the tension between them and the fire in his eyes, and Caroline couldn't stop the small giggle that worked its way out of her lungs. Klaus smiled gently in response to the sound of her laughter, pulling off his own soaked pants and pulling on new ones, not bothering with a shirt just as she didn't bother with the shorts he had grabbed.

Caroline wrapped the towel around them both, drying off Klaus' skin softly, walking them backwards till they sat on the edge of the bed. He watched her, pulling a face as the towel reached his hair and she ruffled it dry, wrinkling his nose in a way that she couldn't describe as anything but adorable, like a dog after a bath. He was kinder when it came to her hair, pulling his fingers carefully through the tangles and patting it dry with the towel. They lay back to sprawl curled in towards each other on the bed covers as their hair slowly began to dry too. Even as it began to lose its damp, he continued to run his hands through it slowly, the most wonderful calming caress.

Caroline watched him, calculating.

"Nik,"

"Mmm?"

"I hadn't killed since the month that I turned. After that, I tried not to, almost swore not to. And now I've gone against that. But it was for good reason. I killed him because he was trying to get to you. I killed him because he was going to hurt you. I killed him because I didn't want you to be hurt, by him, or anyone. I killed him because I want to protect you too."

Klaus paused his caress, then met her gaze, his hands continuing like nothing had happened.

"So you did something irrational because you wanted to protect me."

"Yes."

"So you know how I feel now, anytime anything threatens you, anytime anything puts you in danger." His voice had lowered like he was confessing his biggest fear. It was so sweetly intimate, combined with his fingers threading through her curls, and she edged closer till they were forehead to forehead, eyes closed, breathing each other's breaths in a completely new way.

She knew now, she knew the thing she realized and had tried to hide for so long.

"What you did wasn't wrong. They were not good men." Klaus continued, his voice barely above a whisper.

Caroline knew now. She knew what she wanted to say.

"You'll be all right, Caroline. You'll be safe with me."

She wanted to tell him that she loved him. She wanted to say I love you. Because she knew now. Caroline loved Klaus.

But she couldn't say a word.

"You'll always be all right with me, sweetheart."


	23. Road Tripping

They were on the road the next day, driving. The stunt with the men had gained a little more media attention than they would have liked, and they felt the need to keep moving. Caroline swore to return one day, however. Despite the attack, she was attracted to the city, and nothing could stop her from coming back in the future.

Klaus kept glancing over to Caroline to see how she was coping, and she appreciated and was warmed by his care, but in all honesty, she had killed before. Killing in self defense or to defend someone she cared about was something she could come to terms with. It was just the combination of the men targeting her and how she had automatically elected to remove the mans heart – a classic Original move – that had shaken her.

"I'm fine, you know." She sighed as she felt his gaze move to her face again. "Eyes on the road."

"We could fly somewhere else, rest for a few days, not do anything." Klaus suggested, not wanting her to feel pressured. It had not been the best start to the Caroline planned part of the trip, and he wondered if she would overexhauste herself. No, he didn't wonder. He worried. He wasn't particularly happy that he worried, for worrying about his family was one thing, but worrying to this extent about Caroline was something he was not comfortable with yet. But there was no other option for him. Being changed irreversibly by another human being was not something that one could choose. He merely had to accept it, embrace it.

"You just want to get the control back." Caroline rolled her eyes at his voiced comment. "No chance, Klaus. No way."

"Whatever you say, love." Klaus conceded with a smile curling his lips.

"That's right." Caroline nodded vehemently, earning a chuckle from the hybrid.

"Now, the slow torture of Niklaus continues." Caroline joked. "First I take away the control, and next up is the introduction into music of this century. Where's the iPod?"

"Back pocket." Klaus grinned over at Caroline, trying to be difficult.

She merely raised one eyebrow before unbuckling her seatbelt and leaning over him. Klaus masked his surprise well while her hand went to search the back pocket of his jeans, staring her straight in the eye, their faces a mere inch apart while he somehow kept control of the car on the highway.

"Its not here."

"No? Must be the other back pocket."

Her hand went around to the other side even though she did not move from where she was leaning over him. She gave a thorough search even though the pockets themselves were not all that deep, purely just to feel his impeccable behind, but didn't find what she was looking for.

"Not there?" Klaus asked innocently while he smirked, and Caroline gasped in mock outrage.

"Niklaus!"

Klaus pressed his lips to hers hungrily. "I love it when you say my name." He said against her lips, his words soft but harsh with his deep husky voice. Caroline shivered deliciously, his action almost prompting a reaction from her, the word 'love' on the edge of her lips. But she pulled away, knowing it was neither the time nor place for such declarations.

"You just want crazy car sex." She said, and Klaus laughed again. Caroline pressed a kiss to his neck, nipped it, and kissed it again before returning to her seat.

"We'll both have to wait. There's still a long way to go."

"Sweetheart, are you planning on driving us to China?" Klaus said jokingly, then did a double take at the expression on Caroline's face. "Really?"

"Not China, but yes, this is going to be a bit of a road trip. Which is why I figured I'd get the music going."

"Check my coat pocket." Klaus said helpfully, and Caroline fished out the device from his discarded jacket and plugged it into the car stereo system. Ed Sheeran's voice filled the car, and Caroline sat back with a smile.

"Your lucky I'm feeling good right now. If I had felt vengeful, it would have been The Spice Girls."

"Then thank you for your kindness, love." Klaus said with a wrinkle in his brow. Caroline smiled, programming the GPS system without letting Klaus know the destination and settling back in the seat.

An hour later, they were still driving, the music still playing, but Caroline was no longer awake. Somewhere between songs, Klaus had looked over to see if Caroline had been taking in the scenery or thinking of another random question such as the ones she had been asking for the last 100 miles, only to find the baby vampire curled up with her chin resting on her shoulder, eyes shut, comfortably in oblivion. He could have easily just watched her, but he had a road to concentrate on. Instead, he let his mind roam, wondering how they had come this far, how he had managed to end up driving to who-knows-where with the beautiful blonde. Klaus conceded that all that mattered was that he was there, and so was she.

When Caroline woke up, she did so quietly, not moving or even opening her eyes, just letting her other senses work out her surroundings. It ended up being in her favor, for she heard her favorite Coldplay song start playing over the speakers, and she took care to mask her shock as she heard Klaus humming along.

_Look at the stars, look how they shine for you_

Caroline slowly opened her eyes, and sure enough, like a perfect movie cliché, she could see the stars just starting to appear in the darkening sky. They were still travelling along the highway, the lights passing over the car at a slow and steady pace.

_And everything you do_

"They were all yellow." Klaus sung softly, and Caroline couldn't hold back her surprise any longer, turning to see him at the wheel. He glanced back at her with an ever so slightly troubled look on his face, like he had been caught, and she wondered if she shouldn't ask about the singing. But she was young and curious and knew that they were slowly but surely getting to a place of complete comfort with each other, and so she didn't hold back.

"Were you singing?"

"And a hello to you too, angel." Klaus replied smoothly. Caroline looked at Klaus expectantly as she waited for him to answer, but he refused to even acknowledge her stare, eyes focused on the road for a change.

"Nik!" She said impatiently, and he bit back a grin.

"Hmm?"

"Were you singing just now?"

"What, along to this drivel?" Klaus nodded towards the stereo system. "How absurd."

"Coldplay is not absurd." Caroline huffed.

"The Beatles, Coldplay, all those English boy bands, they are nothing compared to the composers of the true artistic era." Klaus said wisely. Caroline simply thought he was just showing off.

"Look, just cause One Direction isn't Mozart or Bach doesn't mean that their music is 'drivel'."

"What is 'One Direction'?"

"Its not a what, it's a who."

"One Direction can't be a who, it's a where."

"Regardless, they're yet another  _English_  band – " Caroline raised her eyebrows at Klaus. "And might I remind you that you are English – "

"I'm technically from Mystic Falls – "

"But you have the accent – "

"But its not necessarily because I'm British, love."

"They're yet another  _English_  band," Caroline started again with a pointed stare. "That sings. Like you were singing before."

"I was not doing anything of the sort."

"Shame. Whoever was singing had a nice voice."

Klaus shut his mouth, and Caroline returned to gazing out the window at the lights from the road and sky.

Despite his effort to deny any vocalization, Klaus still hummed along with Chris Martin.

"Your skin, oh yeah your skin and bones. Turn into something beautiful. You know, for you I'd bleed myself dry,"

Caroline glanced back at Klaus, not certain that what she heard was true. Had that always been the lyric line? How had she never noticed?

Klaus watched the road, unaware of Caroline's gaze, yet he seemed almost honest as he surprisingly kept singing: albeit, softly and under his breath. "For you I'd bleed myself dry."

Caroline blinked and looked back out to the sky, unable to handle everything while also acutely aware of how she felt now, and the fact that they were properly alone and every moment near him now gave her the ultimate dilemma of wondering whether they should talk, gaze at each other, or delight in each others bodies.

She always thought that hunger could be sated, that hunger could go away. It always had with food, always had with drink, always had with talking and kissing and the eventual sex that she had worked up to in her teenage years. But now, in her vampire years, she was finding that bloodlust was a harder hunger to shake. She had been happy that at least lust in general had been easy to sate, but that was being proved wrong again as she found that it didn't matter how much she had of Klaus, she always wanted more. And even though he could always give more – more companionship, more surprises, more tender words and fierce power and passionate, delicious caresses – it was never enough. She would keep taking from him for a lifetime.

It hit her again just how entwined her future was with him now, and she liked it. She didn't know what she would do without him. She was being ridiculous. But she didn't care. Love did crazy stupid things like that.

"Look at the stars, look how they shine for you…" Klaus trailed off to a hum, and Caroline shook herself from her thoughts.

"Right. My turn to drive. You can get some sleep."

"Don't need it." Klaus smirked over at her and her tousled hair. "You had plenty of beauty sleep for the both of us."

"Yeah, well, it looks like you need a good few hours of beauty sleep yourself." Caroline shot back, and Klaus made a big deal of acting hurt, but they both knew he was teasing just as she was. "Pull over, I'll take it from here."

"I'm fine."

"I didn't say you weren't fine, I just said pull over so I can drive."

"There's only one alpha male around here." Klaus grumbled, still doing as she requested and pulling over to stop the car.

"Yes, and one alpha female." Caroline smiled as they walked around to the opposite sides of the car. Klaus made sure to step in front of her a few times so she couldn't pass, which earned a laugh and a groan before Caroline slid across the nose of the car just to get to the drivers seat.

Despite his protest, Klaus was more than happy to stretch back in the passenger seat and watch Caroline with lazy eyes. Talk was easy and relaxed, and filled with stretches of comfortable silence that Caroline filled with singing along to whatever song came on.

_"I wish those ocean eyes of yours, would see I'm not afraid of flaws. I wish those ocean eyes of yours, would not hide behind closed doors."_

As she trailed off, Klaus opened his own sea blue eyes and gazed at Caroline.

"How come I've never had the pleasure of hearing you sing before?"

"Don't know. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my friends painted you as the resident Big Bad of Mystic Falls?"

He chuckled. "Perhaps. Though I'm not sure if I should condone that I was merely 'painted' as the bad guy. I  _am_  the bad guy, love."

"If you're the bad guy, then so am I." Caroline said with sarcasm.

"That could be arranged. I'd be happy to tell you all about being the bad guy." He smiled winningly at her, and she suppressed the urge to catch his tempting, teasing lips with hers, focusing on the road.

"We'll be in the car for a while longer before we get to the place I had in mind, but I packed some food if you wanted to stop for dinner?" She suggested after the easy lull in their continuous conversation.

"Certainly, sweetheart. Where would you like to stop?"

"Just here? I don't mind having a camp out."

"Well I wouldn't be one to deny you of a chance to bask in the starlight." Klaus lifted his eyebrows, reminding her of their first conversation. Caroline wondered how they had come this far, the baby vampire and the Original Hybrid, and all because he had stopped her from burning, all because he had shown her other ways to live and piqued her curiosity, and all because he had come by and relentlessly swept her off her feet like a tsunami.

"I never got to thank you for that, by the way, so…thank you." Caroline said as she turned off the road and parked the car on the dusty ground by the highway. She glanced over to Klaus, seeing the grateful wonder in his eyes that never ceased to appear when he was thanked without need for thanks, and she knew she ought to do it more often with him. He barely got any thanks when he did things that technically saved her and her friends in Mystic Falls, and everyone needed to be thanked once in a while. "You saved me in more ways than one, just on that one day, and you keep doing that, so thank you."

"My pleasure, love." He responded softly.

Caroline hopped out of the car and grabbed the food from the boot, along with the cooler of blood. She had been practical and quietly stole some B+ from the blood bank in Istanbul when they had first arrived there, just to keep at the hotel. It was certainly proving useful now. When she returned to the front of the car, Klaus was nowhere to be found. Caroline frowned, till a chuckle sounded from behind her. She turned to find Klaus perched on the roof of the car, classic smirk in place, reaching a hand out to help her up. She accepted his hand and clambered up, setting out the food and taking out the blood bags to warm on the hood of the car as the engine cooled down. Klaus made a face, and she sighed.

"I know, not as good as it is from the vein."

"And I know I cant change your ways despite the fact that you had the misfortune to become a vampire in a town filled with those who prefer to self inflict punishment for things that are beyond their control."

Caroline frowned, but didn't argue. She couldn't argue when he made such a convincing argument that he appeared to be right. "Well I don't see any other alternatives our here, unless you'd like to try and hunt some wild cats or something."

"I could try my hand at the Salvatore bunny diet…but somehow it doesn't seem so fulfilling."

"I have to say you're right about that."

"I'm always right, Caroline." Klaus smirked, and she rolled her eyes, unpacking the store bought salad, pasta and bread. They enjoyed the meal together, for despite the fact that it wasn't special, the company and the view of the quiet landscape, far from city lights, make it exceptional. Music still played into the still night out of the car windows, and not a single car passed by on the road. They were completely alone with each other, and after the chaos of Italy and England, it was a beautiful shock to be alone together once more.

Caroline slid down to the hood of the car and checked the blood bags, but they were still fairly cold, and the engine was still hot, so they would take a little while longer to warm up. Klaus surprised her by appearing on the ground in front of her with the smirk she had come to know well.

"What do you have planned, Nik?" She asked in suspicion.

Klaus merely raised his hand to help her off the hood of the car, and when she didn't immediately respond, raised his eyebrows.

"I don't bite, sweetheart."

"Well that's a lie if I ever heard one." She scoffed, and he smirked again.

"I thought you might like a dance. Isn't that our thing?"

Caroline only just picked up on the fact that a slow song was playing, one that reminded her of the jazzy number from the 1920s decade dance. She smiled, reaching out to Klaus, and he lowered his hands to her hips and lifted her off the car to set her down on the ground so she was pressed completely against him, her curves against his hard lines. She laced their fingers together and steadied her hand on his shoulder while his curled around her waist intimately. This was far more personal than the last time they had danced together – it seemed that with every dance their bodies came closer together, from the ball to the decade dance and now here, like magnets. Caroline wondered at just how far they had come, just how comfortable she was in the arms of the man her friends had sworn was bad and would always be bad. Why had they even tried to kill him? Everything he had done was only as bad as what they did to him. Everything he had done, Damon and Stefan had done too. Damon was almost worse with the blood orgies and compelling Caroline, not to mention preying on Elena relentlessly and threatening her life. Who was bad? How were any of them worse than the next? They changed so often that the lines were blurred, so why should any of them judge when they could end up being in the exact same place later?

Caroline put it all aside, focusing on living here in the now and not questioning it. She could only question everyone else now. Klaus was not a question.

He could see from the distant look in her eyes that she was thoughtful, but he knew better than to question it. It was just how she was, a thoughtful woman, a beautiful face hiding deep thoughts. He knew that she thought she was shallow, and he wished that he could make her see that she wasn't. If she ever was as a human, she wasn't now. He had read her Miss Mystic Falls application, and the difference between the immature girl who had written that paper and the woman he held so closely in his arms now was almost shocking. She was so much more as a vampire, she comprehended more, she understood and accepted more, she  _was_ more. She was everything.

That simple thought alone made his thoughts falter, and he shook away the walls that instantly went up around him in his mind. No. Best focus and not worry about the effect the blonde baby vamp had on him. He was a thousand years old, for goodness sake. He needed to get a grip.

Caroline rested her head on Klaus' shoulder, the action surprising him and bringing his attention to the present. He spun them slowly in the dim light of the stars and moon, almost as if he were rocking Caroline to sleep tenderly.

_For the rare allure about you_

_Makes me all the plainer see_

_How inane, how vain, how empty_

_Life without you would be_

_After you, who? Could supply my sky of blue?_

_After you, why? Could I love?_

Caroline felt the words strike a chord in her chest, and closed her eyes, trying not to let it show just how deeply she felt them. She felt love for him, she loved him, but how to tell him? She had the terrible feeling that he would run if she so much as alluded to feeling so deeply about him. Elijah had confided in her about the episode with Katherine in the 1400s, and shared the quote that had obviously stuck in Elijah's head and now stuck in hers, "we do not feel, and we do not care". It made her feel apprehensive about sharing her feelings.

But she felt something else about him changing. It had always been there, but now it came to the surface, in every touch, every tease, every look. She could feel it even now, in the way his thumb stroked softly and continuously over her knuckles, the way his hand held her tightly pressed to him, not wanting an inch of lonely space between them, the way he pressed his cheek to her temple. It was certainly an emotion. She couldn't label it as love, but she almost knew that he had started to feel something strongly for her, something that transcended just sex or the games she had thought he was playing before, or even companionship. She knew he felt something, but she needed the word.

She needed to say the word.

But the moment passed, the song ended, and they were locked together in an embrace that seemed odd without music. They locked eyes, neither willing to break the moment, their gaze just as intense as it had been any time they danced. Caroline was the first to move, pressing a chaste kiss to Klaus' lips in thanks, and leaving his embrace to check how warm the blood bags were. Klaus helped her back onto the roof of the car, though they both knew she didn't need his help, and they lay back on the car with a blood bag to share between the two of them, watching the stars.

"Its so different, seeing the stars from another country." Caroline commented, needing to get back to a normal moment between them so she wouldn't end up just blurting out all of her feelings. "I saw the sky all my life from just the one town. I never really knew there were more to be seen like this."

"Do you know of any constellations?" Klaus asked, tilting his head to regard her.

"No, but I somehow get the feeling I'm about to be told." She smiled up at him.

"Well if you're going to be ungrateful about it, sweetheart, then I wont tell you." He commented lightly, and her smile grew.

"Fine, I don't need to hear."

"Fine."

"Fine." She waited a moment before giving in. "Alright."

"Alright what?"

Caroline sighed, and Klaus fought back his smirk.

"Please? Tell me all of the stories you probably learnt about wacky gods that you worshiped a million years ago."

"I'm not that old, love. And the stories are from Greek mythology, not Pagan religion." Klaus said in a tone that would have conveyed his temper, but his cheeky smile altered the meaning of his chastisement. "Clearly I should have made sure you finished your education before taking you to see the world."

"Okay, very funny, we've both been teased. Now tell me the stories." Caroline conceded, sipping B+ and curling into Klaus' body. He wrapped an arm around her so her head rested on his shoulder, and drank some of the blood from the bag too, wincing more so at the fact that it wasn't from the vein rather than the actual blood bag itself.

"Right. See the three stars in a line there?"

"Mmm?"

"That's Orions belt. If you look at other stars around it, they create his body. Legend says that he was a great hunter, and boasted that he could kill any animal. A scorpion was sent by the gods as a challenge to this claim, and he killed it, but not before it stung him with a lethal poison. With their death, the gods placed them both on opposite sides of the sky so they would forever be hunting each other, never in the sky at the same time."

"Whats the bright star next to it?"

"That's Sirius, Orions wolfhound, the Dog Star."

"So that's your star, then?"

Klaus dug his fingers into Caroline's ribs, making her giggle and squirm against him delightfully.

"Oh really? My star? Lets find your star then." Klaus surveyed the sky, picking out a constellation he knew well. "There. See the one that curves? That's Ariadne's crown, the Northern crown."

"And what's her story?"

Caroline could sense Klaus' eyes on the top of her head, but she didn't return it, tracing irregular swirling patterns on his chest and watching the constellation in question twinkle brightly above them.

"There was a beast named the Minotaur that was caged in an elaborate maze in the middle of a kingdom. People were sent in on a regular basis as a sacrifice. The princess, Ariadne fell in love on sight with a man named Theseus who was sent to enter the labyrinth. He wanted to slay the monster. She plotted with him and gave him thread so he could find his way back once the beast was killed. In exchange, he promised to run away with her and make her his wife. But Theseus deserted her on an island once the beast was dead. Rather than be thankful for her plan that had saved the lives of many, Ariadne felt foolish for trusting the young man. Soon after, the god Dionysus found her and fell in love with her for her passionate bravery and grace. She in turn fell in love with him, and became a goddess. Dionysus made her a crown and set it in the heavens to give her the stars eternal glory."

Caroline was silent as she processed the story. "So how do you see the parallels between me and Ariadne?"

"I don't think it needs explaining, angel."

Caroline thought back to the time in her town that he must have been referring to, with Tyler wanting to kill Klaus, Tyler leaving for the mountains to break the sire bond, Tyler breaking things off with her, Klaus starting to show interest in Caroline once Tyler was gone. True, it was not like the story in its entirety, and Tyler had been far more noble than Theseus, but Caroline saw the faint similarities. That would also make Klaus Dionysus, and while it was slightly exaggerated, she knew that he was more of a man than anyone she had ever known, on a different level to everyone. He was a god in his own right, and he potentially let it feed his ego, but it didn't make it any less true. And he seemed to want to give her everything in the same manner as Dionysus.

"You're almost too thoughtful at times, you know that?" She commented.

"It's served me well over the years." He replied.

"And I suppose I'll do the same, as another star in your sky, another fragment of your life." Caroline said, suddenly bitter at his knowledge, his life, how insignificant she was. Underneath the stars, she was so small, and she wondered if it would be the same with him. She loved him, but was she a mere shadow?

"Caroline." Klaus said harshly, cupping her face and tilting her head forcefully so he could see her face. His own expression was one of such intensity that she had never seen on him before – a sheer, brutal thing that flickered between the anger that she thought so little of herself and coincidentally of him, and the need to prove to her that she was something more to him.

"Caroline, you are more than you will ever know. You mean everything to so many people. And you mean more to me than even you could ever hope to comprehend. You aren't a single star in the sky, you aren't even a constellation. You are all of them, each and every single star in the galaxy." He could see all of the stars reflected in her impossible blue eyes, twinkling like they were stars themselves. He could see her struggle against something in her mind.

"Nik, I – " Caroline cut off her own words by kissing him, surprising him with the intensity behind her embrace as she craned upwards to kiss him again and again under the starlight.


	24. Lazy Days in Pakistan

They didn't make it to the hotel Caroline had planned to stop at after their dinner, spending the night in (and on) the car where they stopped.

They drove through Turkey and wove through Iran. After a couple of pit stops where Caroline was gawked at in a manner that made Klaus grit his teeth and breathe through his nose to avoid physical, bloody confrontation, Caroline bought a thicker scarf to cover up her distinctive blonde hair. It stopped the stares, and Klaus' constant presence warded off any other inquisitive glances.

When they stopped in Pakistan, Klaus was so protective of her even in his mere stance that the hotel staff immediately assumed they were a married couple, sans wedding bands. Caroline had blushed, but not denied it, knowing it would merely cause unnecessary trouble if she said otherwise. She had tried to take note of how Klaus reacted the first time it happened, but he was as unreadable as usual, and Caroline couldn't tell whether he was amused, troubled, or pensive.

After exploring the features of their hotel room, Caroline wandered back to the bedroom and stretched across the expanse of the king-sized bed lazily. It had been a long day, and she hadn't had to deal with the stress of actually planning anything for a while. She began to seriously contemplate a nap, much to her slight dismay. Klaus followed her and after pausing to admire her elongated form from the doorway, joined her.

"Any plans, love?"

"Mmm…" Came her sighed response, which he took as a no.

"Surely the great Caroline Forbes has something planned." He teased, and she scowled sleepily at him, snuggling into his side. His hand immediately went to stroke the hair back from her face, and he kept up the soothing action as her eyes fluttered closed.

"Lets spend the day in bed then. That's a plan, right?" She asked almost hopefully.

"I think you and I want to spend it in different ways." Klaus chuckled, and she smiled.

"I'm sure I'll want exactly the same as you…just in an hour or so…" She trailed off, and he brushed a kiss across her temple.

"Go to sleep, sweetheart."

Caroline was out like a light.

When she woke up again, she was almost certain no time had passed, for Klaus was in exactly the same position. However, once she noticed what he was wearing, a frown marred her brow.

"Is there some fancy vampire gathering I don't know about?" Caroline asked, running her hand along the collar of his dark shirt. She didn't mind – Klaus cleaned up very well – but she did like a little warning.

"I can't believe it." Klaus smiled to himself. "You don't know."

"Don't know what?"

"What's today, Caroline?"

She rolled her eyes. "Like I've seriously kept a track of time when I've been travelling with you."

Klaus nodded in acknowledgment. "Very well. I'll give you a hint – its February."

"Okay…"

"A certain day in February that I've chosen to ignore for a thousand years due to its irrelevance until now."

Caroline blinked, eyes wide. "Valentines Day! How did I somehow miss all of that?"

"I'll just say its because I'm a good distraction." Klaus smirked, and Caroline rolled her eyes, but kissed him anyway.

"Well just be thankful that you're playing the distraction role now, not me."

"I'll accept that."

"I can't believe I didn't get you anything." Caroline lamented, and it was Klaus' turn to look cynical. He rolled them so he hovered over her on the bed.

"You," he brushed a kiss to her collarbone.

"are far more," he sucked lightly at the hollow of her throat.

"than I've had in centuries." his lips dusted along her neck.

"The best gift you could give me is yourself, and you are here." He nipped her ear at the reminder, and she shuddered so deliciously underneath him that he had to return his lips to hers for a while before continuing. "You could never out-do that. You could never give me more."

"Well I'm sure as hell going to try." Caroline replied breathlessly.

Klaus smirked down at her. "I'd like to see that. I'm sure I'll try to out-do you with my plans regardless." He surprised her by not attempting to take it further like she had been eagerly expecting him to do, instead backing away and off the bed altogether, leaving her sprawled and panting.

"I hope you can be ready in twenty minutes, my dear."

"Ready for what?"

He smirked over his shoulder as he left the room. "You'll find out."

Caroline threw up her hands with a noise of exasperation, but did as he requested and rolled out of bed to get ready. Her feet hit a box as she swung them to the floor, and she frowned, opening it and gasping.

Gorgeous black Jimmy Choo ankle boots.

She walked over to the dressing table in a daze only to find another box there.

A purple Alexander McQueen dress, elegance and sex appeal all rolled into one.

She staggered ever so carefully towards the bed, only to find another box sitting on her pillow that she had neglected to notice earlier.

Black lace lingerie.

The Valentines' day ensemble was complete.

Twenty minutes later, Klaus sat on the couch reading when Caroline bent over his shoulder to dot kisses up his neck and along his jaw.

"You. Are. A. Very. Bad. Man." The last kiss landed just on the corner of his mouth, teasing. "Thank you."

"I'm guessing you found the boxes." Klaus said innocently, and Caroline walked around the back of the couch to stand in front of him with a smile.

"I don't know, what do you think?" She said with a hint of sarcasm. She spun on the ball of one booted foot to show off the ensemble to him. When she faced him again, she noted with glee that his eyes had darkened considerably.

"Nik?"

"I thought the idea was to put on the dress over the top of the lingerie, sweetheart." He nearly growled. "I do hope you aren't planning to go out in just that."

"Why?" Caroline asked innocently, smoothing the lace ensemble. "Don't you like it?"

"A little too much."

"Well if you don't think it's a good idea to go out in it, I can just go take it off." She said, enjoying the almost predatory rumble that sounded in his chest, like a fierce lion.

"Perhaps just try the dress over the top and it will be fine. For now."

The promise of more to come made Caroline accept his suggestion, and she fetched the dress and slid it on, turning around and arching her back.

"Zip me up?"

Klaus slowly walked over to her, the suspense making his touch even more tantalizing when he finally traced his fingers down her spine.

"You know I'm much rather help you take off your clothes." He sighed, inching the zip up her back. "However, just this once, I'm willing to wait."

Caroline made a small noise of complaint in the back of her throat, making Klaus smirk.

"I could just ignore that and rip off your clothes." She countered, spinning in his arms and running her fingers delicately along the edge of the collar of his shirt where it touched his skin.

"I think we had better leave soon, or else I might be tempted to just ruin that dress and skip our dinner reservations."

Caroline smiled brightly, pushing him back over to the couch and straddling his lap. "You know I wouldn't mind." She whispered, barely there against his lips, not in a typical kiss. Klaus groaned, restraining himself from pressing against her fiercely.

"If we don't leave now, you'll never know what dinner was like."

"I can live with that."

"Well, I cant." He said with unimaginable strong will, lifting her smoothly off of him and offering the crook of his elbow instead. She accepted with a sigh, and they walked off to the restaurant.

The meal was just as extravagant as Caroline has suspected and secretly hoped. Much as she liked doing the trip properly without all the luxuries she had only just started to realize were easily done with vampire abilities, she did like to be treated every once in a while. She was still a girl at heart who wanted to be wooed by the bad guy like in a classic movie. And Klaus was more than qualified for that. He was a true gentleman to her, and a devilish one at that.

She couldn't think of a more perfect moment.

They walked back along the streets afterwards, reveling in the quietly exotic atmosphere. Klaus bought a single jasmine flower from a vendor they passed, carefully twisting the fragrant blossom to sit in Caroline's perfect curls.

"Well, I'm feeling completely wooed." She commented teasingly. "Are there any other moves I can expect from you?"

"Only the good ones." Klaus smiled, taking his eyes off her for only a moment to glance along the deserted street before inching in closer. "Only the ones I know you like most." He said, his voice dropping down in volume.

Caroline shivered with anticipation, her very nerves crying out at the inch of space between her and Klaus, wanting to remedy that travesty immediately.

"And how do you know what I like most?" She said, playing along.

"I know you like me most." He said boldly, but they both knew it to be true. "I know you, Caroline. I can read you well." Klaus drew closer again, his fingers trailing down her side from her waist to her hip. "I know where you want to be touched." His lips brushed against her ear lightly, tauntingly. "I know what words to say." His other hand curved along her cheek, tilting her face towards his. "I know how you want to be kept waiting." He murmured, every other word making his lips brush tantalizingly against hers. His ocean eyes drew her sky blues in, promising a wonderfully chaotic storm to turn both colours delightfully dark.

"I know you, Caroline."

"And why do you do it all? Why?" She asked, needing to know, aching to know before she fell into everything else with him tonight.

"Because its all for you. Because…" The question had taken him off guard, but he knew the answer deep down. "Everything I do, everything remotely good in my long life so far has been done because of you. And that's all because you are light, Caroline. You're  _my_ light."

She had never heard anything so heart wrenching, so beautiful, so wonderfully wonderfully alluring, and it was all for her. Caroline was first. She was finally first.

They returned to the hotel, trying to fall instantly to the bed while they ravished each other, but they didn't make it that far at first, finding themselves on the table, the couch, then finally the bed.

Caroline fell into a deep slumber, and woke up for the first time without Klaus in bed with her. She was out of bed in a flash. Her heart instantly picked up speed, contracting at the idea that he really had left, and just when she had realized that she loved him, and she swore that she'd have to find him and tell him and –

Caroline stopped in the doorway, the cuffs of Klaus' shirt that she wore gripped under her fingers, then let her grip loosen. Klaus was in the kitchenette, wearing only a pair of jeans and making the pancakes she had taught him to cook on New Years Eve. Her stomach rumbled, no longer feeling like lead as she was reminded about the activities of last night and how she needed to build up her energy once more.

"Morning, sweetheart." Klaus called without turning around.

Caroline walked over and wrapped her arms around his middle, pressing a kiss to his bare shoulder.

"Morning." She mumbled against his skin. "Pancakes?"

"Figured you'd be…hungry after last night."

She could practically hear the smug smirk in his voice, and her fingers brushed lowly over his hipbones in her own form of retaliation.

"Well yeah, I'm…hungry." Caroline said, mimicking his innuendo-filled pause.

Klaus' steady breathing paused for a beat, then resumed its easy rhythm, despite the open mouthed kisses Caroline brushed along his shoulders.

"I'm glad." He said in his melodious voice, turning in Caroline's embrace to watch her with slightly dark, desirous eyes. Caroline smiled seductively, craning up to kiss him and attempt to return back to where they had been last night, but Klaus shifted slightly to kiss the tip of her nose. "We've got a long day of being tourists, like you planned." He turned back to the pancakes, repressing a grin at Caroline's frown.

"The schedule can be put off one day." She said, pressing her body more firmly against Klaus', but for once he refused to be swayed, knowing they would have plenty of time together later for such things.

"This is cause you didn't plan this trip and you want whatever control you can have." Caroline huffed pettily, hopping up to sit on the counter beside him and biting into a pancake. It didn't help that he had also made them perfectly – an improvement on the first batch he had burnt when she taught him back in England.

"Nothing of the sort, love. However – " He glanced back up at her through his lashes, knowing how it affected her. "I do always have control. And I always plan for unexpected sexcapades."

Caroline rolled her eyes to cover how difficult it was to swallow the mouthful of pancake with her suddenly dry mouth. She was thankful that she was sitting on the counter, for she could feel her legs slowly turning to jelly at the thought of more instances like the night before. She would happily give up seeing the Originals and everyone else for at least a decade if they could have every night like that night.

"Yeah, well, you'll have to wait for sexcapades because I've not set aside time. You'll be wishing we had just set the plans back a day."

"Whatever you say." Klaus replied in a tone that clearly meant he doubted whatever she had said.

She frowned, he winked, she smiled – she couldn't stay mad at him, really. Not when he was being cute like this anyway.

They continued on with Caroline's plan for the day – a trip to some ruins via a tour guide jeep.

"You know, so you won't feel nearly as old as you are." She quipped cheekily, earning a look from Klaus. He retaliated in his own way regardless – using temptation and desire in torturous ways as he bit down gently without fangs on her neck in reprimand. The neck was already a sensitive place – but as a vampire it gave more intimacy, more lust, more pleasure. Caroline was already wishing they weren't seeing the ruins and regretting her words within mere seconds. She scowled at him as he pulled away with a smirk – he knew exactly what he was doing.

"What's that look for, love?"

"You're way too manipulative."

"This coming from a woman who was not only sent in to distract me on numerous occasions, but also decided to wear this today?" Klaus gestured at the shorts that left her long legs on display, and the well-cut top that just hinted at her figure.

"Its warm outside, and we're walking." Caroline responded innocently – she knew exactly what she was doing too.

The pair met up with the few others in the group that would be on the jeep with them. Caroline had planned the activities as naturally as possible, just so they could experience some locations without the class and elegance expected of the Original family. Nevertheless, it came as a shock to realize that they would be not only travelling in a jeep, but also on the back of one of the delivery trucks.

The pair met up with seven other tourists from around the world, only two of whom spoke English, before being guided into the back of the truck and sped out of the city walls along bumpy roads. Caroline clutched at the rails on the side of the truck as they sat on the floor scattered with straw. Klaus looked as comfortable and at ease as always, smirking over at her while she bounced with every pothole.

"You alright there, love?"

"Har-de-har." She responded dryly, trying to balance herself better. "You'd think with my heightened reflexes and all I'd be better at this, but no, its clearly just too much to ask for."

"You're young, it'll happen eventually." Klaus said superiorly.

"Says the dinosaur." Caroline huffed, and he would have been a little more put off, but a ditch in the road sent Caroline into a sprawl on the floor and he found it difficult to stay annoyed with her.

"Are you alright, love?"

"Just fine." She groaned, rolling herself up to a sitting position, the golden yellow straw twisting and hiding in her equally sunny locks.

"Well, then." Klaus dangled the camera in front of her, and she realized what he was about to do only a split second before he did it.

"Wait, no no no no –"

_Click._

The end result of Caroline's charming fall became as immortalized as she was with a quick flash of the camera, complete with straw adorning her hair and a panicked expression on her face as she reached towards Klaus to stop him.

"Nik!"

"I thought we were going to record everything now, sweetheart." He said innocently, taking another photo just in case.

"Yeah, but that was documenting  _you_ , not  _me_. And you can draw anyway, capture it that way."

"Oh, I don't believe anything could ever catch this moment quite so well." He chuckled, coming to sit down beside her when she crossed her arms and kissing the pout off her face.

The truck soon made one of its stops at Caroline's planned destination, and they hopped off to explore the ruins of an old monastery.

"Not just any place, but Buddist ruins from the 1st Century." Caroline spouted knowledge proudly, happy that it was she for a change that knew more about a place. "Were you even alive then?"

"No, actually." Klaus said, feeling a little more related to his old humanity with the fact that he hadn't even been alive when the ruins had been built. "Though its nice to know that you know my actual age rather than 'a million'." He teased, reverting back to his old ways, covering his sensitivity out of habit rather than need – he didn't need to worry about hiding any aspect of himself from Caroline. His dark and slightly lighter sides had all been shown to her, he knew there was nothing to fear in that regard.

They wandered around the ruins, feeling the energy coursing through their skin at being on such a cleansed site. The ruins had been wonderfully preserved over the centuries, and the ancient dialects carved into the still standing walls were so old that Klaus could only understand basic messages up to a point. Caroline just liked hearing him try to speak the words he knew, the language sounding so far beyond Latin.

"I didn't know you knew dead languages as well."

"Well, being dead along with the languages has its perks." Klaus raised his brows, and she rolled her eyes but couldn't contain her chuckle.

While Klaus did enjoy being the second oldest thing related to man for a change, he didn't necessarily agree with other aspects. The religious practices, for one. Caroline happily sat down in the designated meditation site, encouraging the Original Hybrid to join her. Klaus looked at her skeptically.

"Nice try, love, but I know for a fact that if there is a God, we wouldn't exist."

"Its not about just contacting a greater force, its about centering yourself. Something you could probably get use out of." Caroline said pointedly. Klaus merely shrugged stubbornly, and she sighed. "Suit yourself." She sat there still as stone for almost twenty minutes, which suited Klaus just fine as he sketched her, capturing the regalness of her straight posture and the look of serenity on her face.

They returned to town using a different route. Caroline stubbornly refused to travel by truck again, much to Klaus' amusement.

"There has to be a less embarrassing way back."

"Allow me, sweetheart." Klaus assured her, walking a short distance away to speak to one of the locals. A short while later, he returned with a motorcycle.

Caroline was not too enthusiastic.

"Oh, no. Nup. No way."

"Problem?"

"I remember what my mom taught me. Don't get on bikes with bad boys."

Klaus pressed a hand to his heart. "You wound me, love. I'm no bad boy." He grinned. "I'm a bad  _man_. Or hybrid. Take your pick."

Caroline raised her eyebrows. "It doesn't matter if its both a man and a hybrid, I'm still not getting on the back of that. I've seen those driving ads. I know what happens to dangerous motorbike riders."

"I'm not dangerous."

Caroline gave him a dubious look.

"Alright, I'm not a dangerous driver." Klaus amended, but Caroline's expression did not change. He tried another tactic.

"Don't you trust me, Caroline?" He asked, drawing closer, looking up at her from under his lashes. Caroline mentally cursed him. He must have known how she couldn't say no to him when he looked like that. It was his evil puppy look. No one could ever say no to the man when he looked so irritatingly gorgeous.

"Of course I trust you, but – "

"And you know that I'd never let any harm come to you."

"Yes, but – "

"And you know that you're always safe with me."

Caroline huffed. "I'm getting on the bike with you, aren't I?"

"Of course." Klaus smiled, and she groaned in complaint, but followed him over to the vehicle.

"Just hold on." Klaus said as he revved up the bike.

"You won't need to worry about that." Caroline said grimly in his ear, her arms already locked around his waist.

Despite her fears, Caroline realized that she loved being on the bike. The freedom, the air, the speed, the thrum of the bike beneath her, it all felt so wonderfully alive. When they reached the end of the trip as night began to fall, she hopped off with a smile that she quickly tried to hide once she saw Klaus' smug face.

"Did you enjoy that?" He asked as they entered the hotel room again.

"No." She pouted.

"Liar." He said with affection.

"No lie, I don't like the bike." She tried again, and sighed when he shot her a look. "Okay, fine. But I don't like this helmet hair." She frowned, tackling her curls with her fingers. Klaus smoothed his through her tresses until they were smooth again, and she leaned into his touch like a cat.

"At least its better than the truck to get there." He smirked, and she frowned lightly.

"Again? Are you just going to keep bringing up that fall for the rest of eternity?"

"Naturally."

"You're infuriating." She said, but it had absolutely no bite to it while she smiled fondly at him.

"I like you." Klaus replied with a grin.

Caroline took in a sudden breath. "Well, I love you."

The words practically floated in the air between them, and she suddenly realized that she had forgotten completely to be concerned about Klaus' reaction to her words. She glanced at the look on his face and it made her expand her words slightly.

"Its true. I love you, Nik."

He gazed at her with such a fire that she didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing. Either way, he didn't make a sound. After a few moments, it got to her.

"Please say something."

"What can I say in response to that?"

 _Bam_. The words pounded into Caroline's ears, twisting horribly into her mind and snaking painfully around her heart.

"Well, if an immediate response doesn't come to mind, then maybe we have a problem."

Klaus winced, and spoke again, trying to express himself correctly. He knew he couldn't say it back. His father, and later countless other people he had wronged, had programmed it into him – that he was a heartless bastard who was incapable of love. It had been drilled into him so many times that somewhere along the way, the lie had become real for him. So real that even when love stared him in the face, he couldn't recognize his own response to it.

"If I had a heart, I would love you, dearest. But we all know I'm broken beyond repair."

Caroline started to see red then. She loved him, she was with him, he wasn't alone, his relationship with his family was starting to border on normal, what else could she do? She had been broken too.

"So was I! And you helped me. Please, Klaus."

"No, love. I'm sorry."

"Don't call me 'love' or 'dearest' when you don't fucking mean it!"

He stood there and took her anger, let it drain from her till she was left limp.

"I can't be fixed, Caroline."

"Well maybe its not about being fixed. Maybe its about two people with cracked hearts coming together and exchanging parts of themselves to be repaired. Starting over anew and creating something better, unbreakable, invincible." Caroline looked up at him with such hope that it actually hurt Klaus, because he knew she wanted something from him and he knew he couldn't give it to her.

"You are the only woman that I have relentlessly gone after in a thousand years. and the only woman who has stayed. You are the only one I let get to me. What more do you want?"

"Three little words. That's all I need, Nik. Not a big shiny ring or a castle in the sunset to ride off to with you. Not even a promise for you to not drink from the vein anymore. I'm realistic, I know I can't change you. All I need is a small sign that I have you."

"You have me." He murmured, cupping her face in his hands ever so tenderly.

"Those aren't the three words I'm looking for." Caroline said, but didn't move from his comforting embrace.

"I can't give you the heart that I don't have." Klaus said softly, smoothing the tiny tear that had escaped from one of Caroline's azure eyes.

"And I can't show you that you have one. But you have mine, Nik. You have my heart." Caroline kept her eyes on his, waiting for the inevitable moment when he would move away. Because she couldn't be his first choice forever.

Klaus stayed.


	25. Awkward Driving

They slept side by side that fateful night, an inch of space between them. Klaus watched her for a while after she fell asleep, the troubled pucker of her brow stirring something inside him. That frown hadn't fully disappeared after their conversation, and honestly, he couldn't blame her.

He was truly surprised that she hadn't left. He could give her the world, but not what she wanted. And if he had wanted to lie to her, as he had lied to thousands of other people and even those closest to him over the centuries, he could have. He could have lied and said those words. But just the very thought of lying to her like that made his stomach clench with an emotion he hadn't felt in years – guilt. Caroline brought up those emotions inside him, summoned up feelings he had only ever felt as a human, feelings he had shut down in his first century of being a vampire.

He should leave. He was petrified of feeling what he felt around her, not being in control of the emotions he hadn't switched off, but hadn't remained in close connection with over the centuries. He wasn't good for her, and he knew that he never would be. Just by realizing that, he should have left. He should leave her.

But he couldn't. He didn't even need to think it through to know he couldn't. He was too selfish and greedy – he needed her even though he couldn't give what she needed in return. He couldn't leave the one light part of his damned dark existence. He was weak, and she was his strength.

Klaus shut his eyes tightly, clenching his jaw. How had this happened? How had the baby vampire, the one woman who had been a challenge gone too far, how had she snuck under his skin? How had her presence, her soul somehow enveloped him so? Had it been through their countless talks? The hours spent with him and his family? Or had it been when they were intimately wrapped around each other, with her very essence sinking through his skin, past the muscles, past his cage of ribs, past that final barrier that protected his shrunken heart? He knew he had a heart, somewhere buried inside of him like the ruins they explored. It was small, to be sure, severely battered and bruised, and spoke a language that no matter his years or knowledge he knew he would never speak, but he did have a heart. It was that he knew he didn't have a heart he could give her. He had to believe in it and the things attached, like love –

Love. What was love anyway? His family loved him, but he questioned it daily. It had been something Mikael had been sure to drive into his very being – that he was a nobody, that he was weak for wanting, for needing attention and affection, that he was his mothers biggest mistake and Mikael's deepest embarrassment and burden, that his siblings did not care for him for why should they care for someone who was nothing to them? He was not their family. He had no family. He had never had family. Why else did he continue to get mad at them for wanting to leave, boxing them up until he knew how best to make them stay, being utterly alone time and time again? They may love him, but he refused to acknowledge it for he was not deserving of it, for he was blind to the actions that showed such affection.

Klaus knew he was damaged. He knew he was not deserving. He knew he hid a weakness with his blank brutal actions. And he knew he did not hold the capacity to love because he had never understood it. But it didn't stop others from loving him unconditionally. Rebekah had proved that she would stay by his side always and forever, loving him despite all his wrongdoings. Elijah had been a support and an ally, the true head of the family when Klaus merely pretended to have strength and control, and Klaus' big brother did that all out of affection for him. Even Kol showed his care through the countless bickering matches and irritating quips, never truly leaving his brother alone even when he wasn't wanted.

And Caroline. Now sweet Caroline did the same. She had not left him, thought she could have countless times over by now. She had never shown anything but affection towards him once her barriers came down. She had given him so many chances, and even when he had not proved himself worthy she had still chosen him. They had come so far together. And now he was disappointing her once more.

Klaus opened his eyes again to watch her. The frown was still there. He didn't think he had the ability to change it, for he didn't have the ability to change himself. But she changed him. Caroline changed him.

He brushed a kiss against the pucker between her brows, and closed his eyes, trying to sort through the battle in his mind.

Caroline had them back and driving in the morning. Things were painfully quiet between them, as they had been since their talk the night before.

Klaus took to watching her as she watched the road, always looking away the second she started to turn towards him. He knew he was being a coward. He constantly reproached himself for it, as a constant mantra of blame in his head,  _'coward, coward, coward_ '. It still didn't change his actions.

Caroline knew what he was doing, though. When she had had enough of not seeing his eyes, she looked over fast, catching him out.

"Got you." She said with a hint of the usual humor.

"Not funny, Caroline." Klaus deadpanned, and she sighed.

"Look, Klaus." It hurt that she had to say her older name for him, that he wasn't Nik in that moment with her. It hurt Klaus more than he knew it would, constricting his already small heart, and he found himself waiting and hoping for a sign that would make it swell with some sort of feeling, some emotion. But he couldn't label it as love.

"I know. I know you." Caroline said honestly. "I know it was hard for you to hear what I had to say last night, and I know it's hard for you to come to terms with it. But it doesn't change much between us."

Liar. They could both hear just how much of a lie that sentence was.

"We're still travelling, and I'm still here." Caroline continued. "Unless you'd like me to leave…?"

"Never, angel." Klaus said softly, and while it still wasn't quite the words (or rather specific three words) she needed to hear from him, it was a start, and a point for her to breathe out.

"I want and need you with me. You know that too, don't you?" Klaus said quietly. "I just can't give you what you want."

"Well, I want and need you, so if we can still be here together, you're giving me what I want." Caroline said, her heart hurting slightly, but trying to be positive. And nothing really had changed. She was still his first priority. She was still the most important thing to him. She was still his first choice, and still wanted and needed, which was what she wanted and needed. She just didn't have the full package of words that she wanted and needed too.

"Just know that its not anything to do with you." Klaus said almost through his teeth, the words and weakness attached to them difficult for him to let out of his lungs and past his tongue and lips in admittance. "Its everything to do with me and my past."

Caroline took a chance and squeezed his hand softly, her own heart lightening just a bit. It wasn't her. It was him. And he had enough difficulty saying that he wasn't alright, that he was not always strong and in control of everything. It took strength to admit that, and she was only just starting to realize what a struggle it was for him. She just had to live with that struggle in herself too.

"I know," She said, just as soft and sweet as he had when they had first danced together. They just knew things about each other, whether by a prior interrogation or simply by an understanding. They just knew each other.

They drove in more comfortable silence for a distance before Caroline decided she would be the one to get the ball rolling in normal conversation once more.

"So I'm surprised you haven't tried to even find out where the next destination is."

"I didn't think it was information you'd wish to divulge." He replied. "You like keeping me in the dark to make sure I don't meddle, I assume."

Caroline smiled a little, and Klaus felt more at ease knowing that at least that hadn't changed.

"Well, you are a renowned meddler." She nodded, then bit back a smile at the comical frown he sent her way. "Do you want to know?"

"Naturally."

"Check the sign coming up on the left."

"India? India is the final destination?" Klaus glanced over at her. "I never pictured you to be this type of adventurous."

Caroline raised an eyebrow, but didn't rise to the innuendo laced in the last remark. "The culture is so different to anything I've ever experienced. Its always seemed like the most foreign exciting thing to ever experience. And you know my interest in all of these different spiritualities – well, India has the most intriguing one in my opinion. Plus there's no chance of Delhi belly or disease when we're vampires." She added with a smile.

"But why now in particular?" Klaus inquired, recalling her absolute stubborn refusal to put off their travel by so much as a day. There must have been something else pulling her to India.

She sighed. "Fine. You're going to think I'm a total sap, but anyway. There's this festival I read about once, called Holi. When I first heard about it, I just liked all the colour that was associated with it. But now, I like it more for the idea behind it. It signifies the coming of spring, a new dawn, new life…" She paused, self-conscious for a change.

"Go on." Klaus encouraged. Just because he was a cynic and a non-believer in so many things didn't mean that he didn't enjoy the energy of her beliefs. It energized him in return.

"Anyway, I'm looking forward to it. I mean, I'm sure you've been here way too many times to mention, but either way I'll enjoy it."

"Only a few times. Elijah's not quite the type to loosen up enough to enjoy such a city, and Kol simply doesn't appreciate the beauty of the place. And could you ever imagine Rebekah in Mumbai?"

"Give her credit, I'm sure she'd appreciate aspects of it."

"Doubtful." Klaus had known Rebekah for far longer than Caroline, so she had to admit defeat there.

"Its been a while since we've heard from them." Caroline mused. "How about we give them a call from the car?"

"There's been a reason why we haven't been in contact, sweetheart." Klaus grumbled. "And it's the same reason as to why we are not with them now, after far too much time cooped up all together."

"They're your family!" She exclaimed.

"And they've been my family for a thousand years. A little space is often encouraged."

"Klaus." Caroline frowned, shooting him a look that could easily turn men to stone. He seemed impassive, but finally heaved a long breath in through his nose, and exhaled just as slowly, pulling out his phone.

"Thank you." She said ever so smugly.

"You're lucky – " A funny look came across Klaus' face as he realized what he would have ended the sentence with, and he cleared it up just as quickly. "You're lucky I regard you far more highly than my family."

Caroline bit her lip, focusing on the road to try and not think about what he might have said instead.

Rebekah's voice on speakerphone filled in any potential awkward pause.

_"Nik?"_

"Hello, sister dear."

_"Well, I certainly didn't expect you of all people to call. It's a pleasant change."_

"Don't I get a mention too, Beks?" Caroline teased.

_"I was going to get around to you in a minute, Caro, get your knickers out of their twist."_

"They're not in one!"

_"Nik, stop working your girl up."_

"You Mikaelson's are too much." Caroline huffed, but her smile was bright, and Klaus was thankful for it.

"Enough bickering. Caroline convinced me to call and see how you were all doing." Klaus said to Rebekah.

_"How kind. Thank you, Caro-pop. I'm fine, but our brothers are behaving like fools."_

That piqued both Klaus and Caroline's interest.

"Fools? How so?"

"I could guess Kol and Eva being a little too much for you, but what about Elijah?" Caroline asked.

 _"You guessed it, Kol and Eva are behaving no better than a couple of lovesick teenagers. Its nauseating."_ Rebekah drawled, and Caroline could just picture her curled lip and the look of disgust on her face.

"They're just properly rekindling things." Caroline defended.

_"It doesn't make it any less nauseating!"_

"Ignore that, what of Elijah?" Klaus focused on the more peculiar situation.

 _"Ah._ "

"Rebekah?"

_"He's met a girl."_

It was a simple enough answer, but it struck them both for a moment. Klaus knew his brother did not get caught up in romances. Elijah felt pity and guilt and other emotions that Klaus originally would have scoffed at before he met Caroline, but Elijah rarely had little more than the occasional dalliance with a woman. For Rebekah to simply state that he had met a girl made it clear that the said girl was more than anything they had encountered before. Caroline hadn't known Elijah for long, but even she knew that he wasn't the type to 'meet a girl'.

"Elaborate, please."

 _"He met a girl on New Years Eve._ "

"That explains where he went off to on those long walks from that night onwards." Caroline nodded.

 _"Yes, but now she's actually coming over and meeting us, and –"_ There was a tiny noise of frustration.  _"Nik, you understand. Its too much!"_

Klaus chuckled, and Caroline looked at him questioningly.

"We've never had this many people associated closely with our family. We've had people who milled around, people who we enjoyed the company of, but never this many we were close to all at the one time."

"Should I feel flattered?" Caroline asked jokingly.

"Yes." Klaus answered seriously.

_"Enough. Nik, I don't know how to get rid of her."_

"Do you need to, Beks?" Caroline questioned.

"Yes." Klaus nodded. Caroline frowned at him, and he shrugged. "I don't know her, she might be dangerous."

"No, you just want to cause trouble and control everything."

"You know me well." He grinned, and she rolled her eyes.

"Beks, does this girl make Elijah happy?"

_"Yes, and its unnerving. I don't trust her."_

"That changes things." Klaus said with grim tones. "How so?"

_"Well, we don't know anything about her. Sure, she comes over, but she doesn't talk much to us. She will simply be with Elijah. I think its antisocial, and I think its suspicious."_

"Have you thought that she might just be scared?" Caroline smiled. Klaus shot her a quizzical look, and she rolled her eyes at him. "You guys are intimidating! Especially to an outsider. I at least knew you guys for a little while before I was plunged in the deep end, and even then you know it took me time to warm up to being with the four of you. You're all pretty violent with each other too."

 _"Yes, but that's out of affection."_  Rebekah argued.  _"And besides, we don't actually know if she knows about us."_

"You mean you don't know if she's a vampire?" Klaus frowned. "That's interesting."

"But Elijah can take care of himself." Caroline pointed out.

"That is true." Klaus nodded.

_"But still – "_

" Caroline has a point, Rebekah. Our brother is old enough, he will be fine." Klaus concluded, effectively ending the topic.

_"Just because you're infatuated – "_

"Thank you, Beks." Caroline cut her off before she could grumble any more.

_"Caro, come back. I'm bored."_

"You shouldn't be…I thought you'd have found your other present by now." Caroline hinted, and Klaus frowned at her again.

_"My other present?"_

"Go check in that dvd collection I gave you."

_"There's nothing…oh."_

Caroline waited expectantly. Klaus was still slightly perplexed.

"What is – " He began to question, but was cut off by Rebekah's excited tones.

_"Thank you! I'll go pack now!"_

"Your welcome, see you Beks." Caroline smiled as Rebekah hung up after a quick garbled goodbye. Klaus sat there wondering what had just happened.

"You know I don't like being kept in the dark, sweetheart. Tell me what just happened."

"Of course you wouldn't ask nicely." Caroline rolled her eyes. "It's secret girls business between your sister and I."

Klaus scowled, but he surprisingly let the issue drop slightly. "Very well. So long as she isn't joining us."

"No, she is not." Caroline said firmly. "Your family are lovely, but I think I'm happy staying in touch via phone for a little while."

"I'm glad." Klaus said. "But what of your adopted family?"

"Mystic Falls?" Caroline pulled a face, hiding how she really felt. "I don't know."

"Yes, you do." Klaus said softly. "You miss them."

She could hear the underlying bitter tone to his words. "Hey, I'm not leaving you. In case you didn't pick up on that fact. I love you." She said, despite the closed off expression that flitted across his face as she said the words. She figured if she continued to say them, someday he'd finally believe them. "I'm staying with you. But I do miss my mom, and my friends."

Klaus sucked in a breath. "Perhaps we should visit."

Caroline blinked. "Seriously?"

"Why not?"

"Because my friends hate you." She said honestly.

He shrugged. "I don't have to come with you."

"I'm not going anywhere without you." Caroline said stubbornly, hurt slightly. Was he trying to get rid of her? Was this really what it would come down to?

They drove in silence for a moment or so before Klaus realized how she could have taken his words.

"Don't think that I don't want to go with you, Caroline." Klaus said, reading her mind as usual. "I just want to give you what you need. And I know you need to visit your family. We'll figure something out."

She smiled faintly. "Isn't that my line? I thought I was meant to be the rational one."

"I'm learning."

"Well, you're learning well." She smiled, interlocking their fingers over the arm rest and driving the rest of the way in that position.

They reached their destination a few hours later. Caroline hopped out and practically bounced into the apartment she had booked for the two of them, psyching herself up for everything she had planned. Klaus followed carefully behind.

"I hope you are prepared for some serious American-tourist-goes-Bollywood stuff, because I know that's what I've got lined up." She grinned, brandishing books and brochures galore that she had packed in her bag.

"Joy." Klaus drawled, but he was truly pleased to see her enthusiasm, and she knew it too.

They settled in the way they often did, he with a notepad to sketch in, and she hopping from one thing to the next, seeing the view from each of the windows as night fell, unpacking her things and then finally settling into one of the chairs to re-read all the information she had gathered. She had wanted to visit India since she was small, ever since she had known there were places in the world other than Mystic Falls, and she wanted to see everything.

At some point in the evening, Klaus looked up to find that she was asleep, her book drooping in her fingertips, inching towards the ground. He caught it quickly before it dropped, and carried her over to the bed.

Not certain if she wanted him to stay, he stepped backwards. Even in sleep, she clutched at his arm when he pulled away.

Caroline opened her eyes sleepily to peer up at him and, with an almost cheeky smile on her face, she pulled on his arm till he overbalanced, toppling over her and gracefully onto the bed.

"Its not fair that you can do that and still look like some sort of feline." She said sleepily, curling on her side to see him.

"I think you mean canine, sweetheart." He said softly, settling into his new position next to her. "I am a hybrid after all."

"No, feline." She shook her head stubbornly. "Though really, you are both. You're a wolf and a feline. You're a lion."

"Lion's are exclusively from the cat family."

"Nik." She huffed sleepily. "Okay? You're my lion. Deal with it."

Klaus smiled simply due to the fact that he was Nik again, even if it was only when she was half awake. "Alright, love."

"You'll stay with me, right?" She murmured, lacing her fingers through his where they lay between them on the bed.

"Of course." He stroked his calloused thumb across the soft skin of her palm.

"Even if you don't love me?" Her voice was so small.

"Of course I lo-" The rest of the word got stuck in his throat, and he couldn't finish it. "You know how I care for you."

"Sometime I do, but sometimes – " Caroline chuckled. "I guess I'm just as insecure as I used to be."

"You are far from insecure, angel." She had progressed so far from the girl she used to be. She was so much stronger, so fearless.

"But then I realize that it doesn't matter." Caroline continued.

"Why is that?"

"Because I love you. And that matters more to me on so many levels. But the one that matters most is that you know I love you, and anybody capable of being loved is capable of being saved. I just hope someday you'll know just how much you can be loved."

Klaus swallowed thickly, watching Caroline as she slowly drifted between the waking and dreaming world, her deep breaths mingling with his. If she had said that to him months ago, before the trip, before they had left Mystic Falls, he would have thought she had been hallucinating. But now, here, even when she had said it while almost dreaming, she had spoken so truly that it was impossible for him to deny it. Even he believed it.

"Goodnight, love." Caroline said gently, the sound almost like the whisper of a guardian angel.

"Sweet dreams." Klaus murmured. He took a chance, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand, and mouthing the words he couldn't say just yet, not until he had truly learnt their meaning.

'I love you, sweetheart.'


	26. Indian Wonders

"Wake up,"

Deep inhale. Even longer exhale.

"Wake up, please,"

A soft, warm, welcome weight. Tickling tendrils of hair brushing pleasantly across skin.

"Wake up, Nik,"

Klaus' eyes slowly opened to the splendid sight of Caroline's bright smile, framed by mussed blonde curls, a halo of sunlight for the twinkle of her grin.

"Morning, angel." He said, because it was truly what she was there in that moment.

"Morning." Caroline sighed back, her hands smoothing down his chest. Klaus realized that she was perched over him, one bent leg either side of his torso.

"And what do I owe the pleasure of this greeting to?" He murmured, his fingers trailing up the backs of her legs so she bent that little bit closer to him in a shiver.

"Thought it might be the best way to wake you up." She said softly.

"Aptly noted." He replied, watching the expressions that flitted across her face as he traced particular patterns against the canvas of her skin, curling higher and curving harder.

"Besides…" Caroline continued. "I have a whole day planned, and I knew that the better your mood, the more likely you'd be to do what I wanted."

"Manipulation, Miss Forbes?" Klaus grinned. "But truly, when have I done anything you haven't wanted to do during one of these little day trips. I'd do anything for you."

They both knew it, really, but Caroline was a person who needed words, and Klaus too was someone who needed a decent, constant reminder of things such as blatant feelings, so they related well. She beamed, raising an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Truly."

"How real are you being right now?"

"Very real."

"This real?" Caroline leaned teasingly closer, their chests almost brushing.

"Yes," Klaus replied.

"And this real?" Caroline pressed closer, her mouth hovering tantalizingly out of reach.

"Yes," Klaus said with huskier tones, knowing he ought not move or the game would finish.

"This real?" Caroline murmured over his lips, the tip of her tongue flicking out to catch his upper lip.

Klaus stopped breathing for a second before answering in darkened tones that reverberated through his lungs to hers.

"Yes, love."

He felt Caroline smile against his cheek before suddenly he was alone on the bed, her body's absence from his like a shock of cold water on the skin.

"Well come on then, Nik." She said in a bright voice from the other side of the room, regrettably putting on more clothes rather than taking more off. "We've got a big day ahead of us."

Klaus growled lowly, knowing that she acted the way she did on purpose, knowing that she understood full well what it did to him. She sent him a grin before exiting the room and heading towards the kitchen for coffee.

This was going to be a long day.

Caroline led him out to the streets of Agra, reading off a fold out map and refusing to let him see it, evading his chasing no matter how fast he got, teasingly taking photos of him as he did so.

"I suppose this is retaliation for the photo in Pakistan?"

"You bet your Original ass it is." She laughed over her shoulder, circling and twirling on the dirt road always a few steps ahead of him, smiling at the sun. He caught her off guard, catching her by the waist and spinning her around, lifting her off the ground while she gasped and giggled. He set her back down with a smile, and she returned it before they continued walking together without words.

Klaus' mind, however, was a raging brainstorm. Why was she so exquisitely happy this morning? Was it simply due to her being in India? Or was it related to something else? Or could it be that he actually didn't make her miserable, that he made her…happy? He had never made anyone happy. Not once. Any slight moment of pleasure anyone had ever derived from him was quickly followed by seemingly endless crashing waves of pain and misery. He wasn't accustomed to making people happy, particularly when he was simply just being himself. Just as he began to seriously doubt that he was the cause for her happiness, she read his mind in the same way that he had done to her numerous times before.

"This is perfect." She sighed, breathing in the fresh air deeply. "Everything about this place is great, but you heighten it. You make me live, you know that? You make me happy." Caroline glanced sideways at Klaus to take in his reaction, noting his disbelief. She couldn't believe that it was such an impossible thing for him to grasp, especially when he was the reason that she hadn't died. " You know you gave me the will to live my immortal life properly on my birthday last year." She said softly, linking her fingers through his. "But its more than that. You've given me more reasons to smile simply by being you, while my friends – though I love them – gave me enough reasons to not feel that happiness on occasion. You make me happy, Nik, and don't forget it."

Klaus exhaled slowly, drawing her closer to press his lips to her temple, mouthing something there out of sight of her sky blue eyes.

 _Te amo_.

They reached Caroline's destination – the Taj Mahal. The magnificent building towered before them, rendering them dwarfish. Caroline gazed up at it with such blatant wonder that Klaus was too caught up in watching her reaction to bother seeing the building. He had seen it when it had first been finished and displayed, and nothing much had changed. But Caroline, she was a new creation to be seen and admired every day, changing every hour, every minute, into something more incredible than the last. He may have been opinionated in that thought, but he had been alive for more than a thousand years, so any opinions he had were naturally correct after so long to see everything. He had seen it all, and he knew that she was the most fascinating thing he had ever come across. She just needed to remember that well.

Caroline was in awe of the beautiful, towering structure. Everything from the water in front of it to the sheer white sheen of the marble spoke of grandeur, and the very feeling of blessing that rolled off the building made one feel so at peace. It was the perfectly symmetrical union of architecture and grace, and it gleamed in the still morning light.

The mechanical whirr of the camera brought her attention back to the present, and she saw Klaus lowering the camera from where it had been pointed at her, a smirk on his face.

"I thought you only liked to sketch."

"Things change. I'm warming up to the idea of instant moments captured. Never really had a need for it before."

She smiled, and he returned it.

"Of course, it doesn't quite capture everything properly. Sketching at least gives some class."

She rolled his eyes – he was back to himself. "I'm guessing I need class?"

"Undeniably." He smirked.

"I'll have you know, I was Miss My – "

"Miss Mystic Falls, who's goal was to aspire, inspire and perspire." He listed on his fingers, and chuckled at her surprised expression. "Clearly you found a lack of words ending in 'spire'."

"You read my Miss Mystic application?!" She wavered between frowning and laughing. "I don't know whether that's creepy or endearing."

"Think what you will, sweetheart, but regardless of the poor English skills, which I may add you still have – " He bit back a smile as she poked him with faux irritation. " – you are far classier than the small-town girl who led her small-town life back then. You're radiant."

"And you're too charming for this hour of the morning." She countered, bestowing a quick kiss to his cheek for thanks before walking forward with him towards the Taj Mahal.

"I can't believe I'm seeing one of the Eight Wonders of the World." Caroline sighed happily.

"Its also a World Heritage site." Klaus added, knowing she'd appreciate the fact.

"Its one of the finest architectural buildings from the time of the Mughal regime." She countered, not to be outdone. She knew what she was talking about, she did her research well when things interested her like this.

"It took 22 years to build, and 5 more to complete the additional garden."

"The workers hands were cut off so they could never recreate its beauty."

"That's merely a myth, sweetheart." Klaus corrected. "The Emperor may have been a fierce warrior, but he wouldn't have done something that harsh in memory of his dear wife."

"His 'dear wife'?" Caroline scoffed. "She was his third wife."

"You clearly didn't do your research, did you?" He smirked, raising an eyebrow when she poked her tongue out childishly at him. "Do you want me to continue?"

"Yes, o mighty old one." She rolled her eyes, and smiled at his scowl.

"If you're going to be ungrateful – "

"I always am." Caroline dropped another three kisses down his neck. "Please continue?"

Klaus continued with a small smile. "Arjumand Banu, or the Empress consort, was Emperor Shah Jahan's favorite wife. She was his companion, betrothed to him when she was just fourteen, and he loved her and spent most of his waking hours with her till she died. They had to wait five years to marry on a day picked by the court astrologers to ensure a happy marriage."

"People believed in such things?" She wondered aloud.

"We believed that the Earth was an island carried on the back of a turtle for far too many years." Klaus shook his head. "Yes, we believed in some non-sensical things."

"But people need to believe in something, I suppose." Caroline mused. "Believing gives hope, and reason in chaos. And it unites people." She shook herself. "Anyway, so how was she his 'favorite'?"

"Shah Jahan gave her the nickname 'Mumtaz Mahal' – meaning 'Chosen One' or 'Jewel of the Palace' – due to her grace, mind, and beauty. He had two other wives who he had wed before her due to religious custom and political reasons, but he fulfilled the duties of a husband by having a child with each before not returning to their beds. She was far higher in his regard than any other being on the planet." Caroline did not miss the calculating look he sent her way, but she chose to not kick up a fuss by noticing it properly.

"And I suppose you just saw all of this?"

"No." Klaus admitted as they walked up the stone steps. "I only came to the court once, and even then I'll admit that I did not care for such things. It was the Taj Mahal that caught my attention later, for that was something else, spurred by emotion to create something impeccable."

"I love the architecture." Caroline admitted, taking in the detailed work as it came closer and closer. "We had a terrible teacher in high school that set us assignments on historical sites. Elena got the Taj Mahal and I got the White House. I remember doing my project and enjoying it, and then helping out Elena when she got bored of looking for information. Its got elements of Islamic, Persian, Indian and Turkish architecture, right?"

"Yes." Klaus nodded, impressed by what she remembered considering her high school life must have been filled with daydreams until she became the heightened being she was today. "And I believe the coordinates are twenty-seven point one seven four seven nine nine, by seventy-eight point zero four two one one one."

"And I believe you are showing off." Caroline nudged her elbow into his side, and he slid an arm around her waist to prevent her from edging away again.

"What would you think if I was, hmm, angel?"

"That you were a pompous – "

His lips ghosting over the back of her neck sent shivers down her spine and she had to stop speaking.

"That you were a far too charming, irritating man." Caroline corrected herself, frowning with a smile up at him. "Anything else I need to know about the building?"

"Yes. Every since inch of the Taj Mahal is filled with detailed work that the twenty-thousand workers did by hand. That is what is truly magnificent. Nothing is done painstakingly by hand anymore, nothing is created and shaped so uniquely." Klaus, who had been surveying the carved marble with an artists eye, turned his attention back to Caroline. "And the idea that a man did this all to commemorate his love for a woman he considered his most influential, trusted companion, the unquestionable love of his life…well, until recently, I never understood it." Klaus gazed at her with such intensity, his stormy blue eyes filled with sincerity and passion, and Caroline stood there, almost breathless, looking the most shockingly beautiful he had ever seen her. He parted his lips, then let out a breathless chuckle, dropping her sky blue gaze to glance at his feet. Klaus returned his lips to her cheek, pausing momentarily to brush words across her skin.

_Je t'aime_

"Lets explore, shall we sweetheart?"

The pair wandered through the entrance hall, past the tombs of the Empress' companion and attendents, past the memorials for the first and second wives of the Emperor, finally following the signs to the cenotaphs that acted as the more elaborately decorated memorials without being the true resting place of the royal couple.

Caroline looked towards the domed roof first, amazed that such a vast construction wasn't crashing down on their heads.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Klaus noted, watching her rather than the white marble roof.

"Its just colossal." She murmured. "You can see how its stood the test of time."

"Its four metres thick, sweetheart." He smirked. "It can stand a lot more than merely the test of time. The pillars outside prevent any damage from happening in an earthquake by leaning away from the main building rather than towards it, so they wouldn't fall and crush the beautiful memorial."

"The things he did to prove his love was endless." She scoffed softly.

"The dome does the same. This building has the longest echo out of anywhere in the world."

"Really?" Caroline quirked a brow, glancing around at the relatively empty hall.  _"Love."_  She hummed loudly, enough for the sound to catch and multiply within the dome of white marble above them. The simple note thrummed, reverberating for longer than it should, echoing through Klaus' brain even after his sharp hearing could no longer catch it. Caroline beamed at him, pleased at her risqué move, before turning her attention towards the screen that protected the bejeweled cenotaphs of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan. She slowly approached it as if it were a mirage that would disappear if she moved too quickly.

Klaus followed behind her, more intent on watching her see it for the first time rather than witnessing it himself. He remembered when he had first seen it, before Shah Jahan had died, when he had come with the many who wanted to pay their respects to the queen. He was more interested in the architecture and artistry of the place, at the time. But seeing it with Caroline gave him new perspective, gave feelings behind the art. He now understood what he had first thought was weakness in the Emperor's time, when Klaus had seen how affected the man was by this young woman who was the light, kind heart to his dark, harsher, war-like personality. Shah Jahan had known of the balance that Mumtaz brought to his life, which was reflected in the symmetry of his everlansting devotion to her. And for the first time, Klaus didn't see it as a weakness, for he now had Caroline in his life to bring him balance, sweetness to his bitterness, heart to his batred and soul to his sins. And it didn't make him weak. It made him strong. It gave him a new purpose that was filled while continuing, and goals that were achieved and reset daily. It gave him drive. It gave him something worth fighting for, succeeding for, trying for.

Caroline brought him back from his minds wanderings as she spun to look at him, eyes bright with excitement. She couldn't believe she was here, and everything was so incredible.

"Don't you want to come closer?" She asked innocently, gesturing towards the delicately engraved white marble screen that shielded the cenotaphs decorated in ornate engravings of fruit and flowers.

Klaus moved closer, not for the art, but for Caroline, taking a risk while amongst tourists and standing behind her intimately.

"Of course I want to come closer, Caroline." He murmured against her neck.  _'S'agapo.'_

Yet another word painted her skin, and she was starting to pick up on the brushes of his lips being words, not just artists and lovers patterns. She looked back over her shoulder at him quizzically, but then let it slide.

"Can you translate some of the engravings for me?" Caroline asked.

Klaus chuckled. "The translation is on plenty of information boards around the room."

"I know, but I want to hear it from you." She said honestly.

He gave her a look with his eyebrows raised, but it masked the pleased and proud feeling he had from her mere wants being related to him.

"Every soul will taste death. And We test you with evil and with good as trial; and to Us you will be returned." He read.

"What is it in the original dialect?"

"हर आत्मा मौत स्वाद होगा. और हम तुम बुराई के साथ और परीक्षण के रूप में अच्छा के साथ परीक्षण, और आप हमसे को लौटा दी जाएगी." The words and sounds all melded together, and Caroline closed her eyes with a small smile, lulled by the sound of his voice. Klaus looked softly at her. "मैं तुमसे प्यार करता हूँ" He added quietly.

The tour guide to Caroline's right glanced over to them with a smile at Klaus' last words, before returning to her group.

Once Caroline had taken in every detailed inch of the room, they wandered through other halls. They passed by a bricked up doorway that caught Caroline's eye.

"Alright, smart alec, where did that lead?" She asked curiously.

"I can't recall." Klaus lied. "Lets see, shall we?" He made to walk over, and Caroline realized what he intended to do, catching his arm and digging her heels in. She knew it was pointless – if he really wanted to move and drag her with him, it wouldn't take much effort. But he stopped regardless, looking cheekily back at her.

"Nik, no!"

"Why not, sweetheart?"

"Just cause we're…'different'…doesn't mean we get to exploit those differences."

"Where is your sense of adventure, Caroline?" Klaus asked, strolling back to her with his usual cocky demeanor.

"I have a perfectly good sense of adventure, thank you." She snipped. "But it doesn't mean I go around destroying buildings."

"It wouldn't be destruction, it would be a reopening."

Caroline rolled her eyes at him, and he shrugged.

"Maybe it would be destruction, but everyone knows its my specialty."

"Your specialty is being a monstrous seductive hybrid." Caroline said, hoping to distract him.

He raised an eyebrow at her and she knew it wasn't working.

"Please, Nik? Can we have just one day of normal?"

"Very well." He gave in. "No destruction."

Caroline sighed and continued to walk, but Klaus had other ideas, tugging her down to sit on a marble bench.

"But no normalcy either."

She looked at him with a puckered frown in her brow, and he chuckled, smoothing his thumb over it and keeping his hand curled around her cheek.

Caroline's vision swam, but before she could panic, she saw the Taj Mahal transform around her. The marble glowed brighter, the lights changed as night suddenly painted over the pale blue sky, lanterns were lit, tourists faded away in favor of traditionally dressed Indians, and signs and restrictions fazed out. Caroline looked over to the door to find that it was no longer boarded over. She looked back at Klaus wide eyed and bouncing with excitement.

"This is from your memories?"

"It is." He answered simply, smiling slightly as she took in all the detail that had faded away over the centuries.

"Can I move?"

"Only in your mind, only here."

"Perfect." Caroline grabbed his hand and raced towards the doorway, giggling down the steps and stopping dead still so that Klaus bumped into her at the end of the flight of stairs.

"Oh wow." She breathed.

The tombs were more simply decorated than their counterparts in the room above, reflecting aspects but concentrating more on words. Klaus translated some, most of which were the names of Allah, divine attributes of 'O King, O Holy, O Peace'. Yet the feeling, the presence of royal wonder filled the room, and Caroline had to remind herself that it was all a memory from Klaus, who claimed to not notice such things that tied with emotion and humanity. She closed her eyes reverently for a moment, allowing her mind to go blank and simply breathe.

When she opened them again, Klaus was watching her with that same soft look on his face, and it brought a smile to her face, as he had been doing with ease all day.

"Come on, I want to see what the gardens looked like." She broke the mood gently, squeezing the hand she hadn't let go and bringing him back up the stairs. Caroline tugged him into a run through the halls, knowing no one else would care since it was all in their minds, speeding past the original jasper and jade doors, the ornate jewels that had originally sparkled on the walls, out to the garden and along the crystal clear waters of the fountain.

They stopped to look back at the building once more, and Caroline gasped. The Taj Mahal glowed as if the marble was the moon itself, putting everything else around it to utter shame with its pure beauty. She stared unabashedly at it till she blinked and looked around at the garden, which looked a lot less English than it did in reality.

"It was remodeled after the English invasion." Klaus informed her. "The memorial began to fall to ruin and it was rescued by an Englishman."

"Clearly you English ruin everything." Caroline teased without bite, spying a construction across the banks of the Yamuna. "What's that?"

"No one really knew at the time." He admitted. "A rumor went around that it was Shah Jahan's plan for another Taj Mahal for his own body."

"But he was buried with Mumtaz." She frowned.

"It wasn't the plan. That was what his son did, after he dishonored him and had him locked away for his 'health'." Klaus said, shrugging at Caroline's expression. "Its how it was, angel. Regardless, there was a myth that there would have been another memorial built from black marble, the dark symmetry to the light of the Taj Mahal, with a bridge holding the two structures together." Klaus pondered the balance, then shook his head. "All speculation. But you can see the Black Taj Mahal here anyway."

Caroline spun around, waiting for the structure to arise from the ground. After all, it was Klaus' mind, he could surely create it. But everything was still.

"Where?"

Klaus gently clasped her chin and pointed her gaze towards the reflection on the water of the fountain. The Taj Mahal's shape rippled there, shimmering between light and dark. The balance of the building was complete.

"Incredible." Caroline smiled, opening her eyes with the new revelation. The world around them faded back to the brightness of day, and they were seated on the bench once more.

"Thank you, love." Caroline murmured in Klaus' ear, kissing his stubbled cheek before hopping up and taking him with her. "C'mon, plenty more to see!"

...

The next day dawned brightly. Caroline, exhausted from the many exciting miles she had walked around site after site and street after street, rolled over and away from the dawn, settling into Klaus' shoulder. When he moved, she tried to bury herself deeper under the covers and deeper into his chest, shutting her eyes tight.

"Caroline,"

"mmm."

"Sweetheart,"

"Mrrrrm."

"Angel,"

"Five more minutes." She groaned. "Just five more minutes of this."

"Five more minutes of having you try to burrow into my ribs?" Klaus chuckled, a rumble of pleasant noise against Caroline's ear.

"I don't see you complaining."

"That's true. Why would I complain when I have you against me?" His hands trailed down her spine to her lower back, retracing the path back up underneath her shirt. Even when she was almost asleep, she still arched against him, goosebumps rising at his electric touch.

"Not fair." She huffed.

"What?" Klaus asked all too innocently.

"I wanted to sleep."

"I'm not stopping you."

"Yes you are, you liar." She lifted her head to frown sleepily at him, and he couldn't help but smile down at her, kissing a straight line down her forehead, down her pixie nose, down the smooth column of her throat to her collarbones, whispering in the dip of her throat.

 _'Rakhma,_  sweetheart."

"And a good morning to you too." She murmured back, though by the way his lips curled into a smirk at her neck she knew it wasn't what he had really said to her. "Any reason you've woken me up at this hour?"

"I planned something."

"Excuse me?"

…

"I cant believe you organised this." Caroline smiled. "I thought I was meant to be the one in control!"

Klaus sat back with a smug, pleased look on his face. "Well, no one said anything about me taking that control back for a little while, and you seem fairly happy, so…" He shrugged in his typical fashion, and Caroline chose not to respond purely cause he was right.

The woman returned to take Caroline out the back to get changed into the sari garb prepped and ready for her. Klaus had organised for Caroline to be trained in the fine Indian art of courtesans, after she had shown an interest in the Mumtaz Mahal who had been an Empress courtesan. Courtesans had always been highly ranked in Indian society. Unlike the European forms of prostitution, it was a way only taken by the nobility, and the women who were taught had a highly skilled knowledge. They were truly academics, only they were also trained in the art of seduction. After all, it was the country who developed the Karma Sutra, where women were considered deities, and where it had been common for many centuries for women to go around only covered from the waist down, confident, poised, graceful and respected. It was a whole new world of Miss Mystic Falls training, and while Caroline had initially giggled at it, she was fascinated by the culture.

When she returned, she was so colorfully stunning that Klaus instantly thought her soul had been transfixed to the fabric, showing her true colors in all their bright, beautiful entirety. The look on his face spoke those unspoken ideas for him, and she smiled softly, returning to sit cross-legged beside him as the woman continued to educate her.

Klaus watched as the bindi was applied to her forehead, and the perfume was dotted specifically across her body – spice for the hair and jasmine for the arms and sandalwood in a trail across her back. He silently watched as Caroline continuously questioned what the meaning was behind this, and what the symbolism of that meant, and how those came to being. All the while, his mind whirred away.

Klaus couldn't work out what was more attractive – that Caroline was a goddess in her own divine way, or that she knew so much more than others could understand, or that she wanted to always know more. Whenever others seemed surprised at her knowledge, he wanted to rip their throats out due to their sheer ignorance. Of course Caroline  _knew_. She was so much more intelligent than the countless lowlifes he knew, and so severely underestimated, particularly by the idiots of Mystic Falls. Her intelligence was one of the many, countless things he admired about her.

He admired her – no. He did more than that. The thought, the mere, innocent thought, hit him like lightning, much as Caroline's mere presence did. He couldn't bring himself to even think the small four letter l word, but he finally realized just how much the little vampire had got to him, just how significant she was, just how much he couldn't bear to be without her, ever.

When she was finally a full fledged coutesan, at least by knowledge, she changed out of the sari and into her white shirt and jeans, and they left with the hybrid completely perplexed with his own stupidity. How had he simply never realized it? He knew Caroline was the best thing to ever come into his life, but he had always taken it for granted because he knew she would inevitably leave, and it was easier for him to get over that eventual situation by not getting attached. Now, with the tangible and tempting idea of her never leaving him, staying for far longer than he had ever imagined, for ever and all of eternity, if he was lucky, he finally realized her true worth. She was priceless. Priceless and celestial, and wonderful, and incredible, and she could be  _his_.

Just the small thought prompted him to hold her by waist that little bit tighter, press his mouth to her perfumed hair that little bit harder, gaze at her that little bit longer, smile that little bit brighter in response to her dazzling flash of teeth and happiness. Just that thought set his mind into a spin that only she could calm and aggravate in the best way all at once.

All at once, she set him on fire after years of being so cold. All at once, she brought light to his perpetually dark life. All at once, she gave balance to his lopsided, insatiable life. All at once.

Caroline watched him, knowing the look in his eyes that meant his mind was whirring far out of control, and she stretched up to kiss his nose quickly before pulling him into the crowd of people gathered to celebrate Holi. She lead him over to the stalls selling colored powder, as excited as a kid on Christmas, prepared to count down the last few minutes till the planned release of spring colors to the air as tradition allowed. No words passed between Klaus and Caroline as they wove through the crowd to get to a vantage point to see the count down and the release of powder, signifying the arrival of spring, of forgiveness for any unholy sins and preparing for the lively color that spring would bring. Finally, the time came.

Three. Two. One.

Once.

The moment could only be seen in one instant.

Once.

The colors burst through the air as hundreds threw their choice of color into the air. Caroline threw up her own sky blue handful, and Klaus tossed his bright red powder to mingle in the air above them. The colors all mingled, settling down on them and covering them in a multitude of tones.

Strangers passed through the crowd, touching family and tourist alike on the face and hands, spreading the love, the passion, the light. Caroline reached Klaus first, stroking her still bright blue hands across his cheeks, painting her color on him. He did the same to her, branding her with his color, claiming her as his own for everyone to see.

Then they were found by everyone else. Old and young alike, all smiling, everyone was passed from hand to hand, everyone was covered in the color that gave life. Yellow for the sun that gave life, blue for the sky and water that gave them life, green for the promise of spring and growth, red for the blood in their hearts and veins. Someone started up the music again, the pipe trickling out a tune that reflected the happiness in the air, the drum continuing the upbeat feeling of the entire festival.

Klaus looked over to Caroline, laughing, her teeth so white against the rainbow of colored powder against her skin. She danced along to the beat of the tambour, spinning and kicking her feet in an imitation of what the local women did. He caught her in his arms as she came twirling past, and she looked up with that same bright smile on her face, the one he wanted to see there for all of eternity.

"I love you, Caroline."

The declaration came as a shock to them both, but Klaus knew it was true the second it left his lips in his mother tongue. He cursed himself as a fool for not realizing it earlier, for saying it so many ways in other languages while being blind to it in his own mind, but he knew it was true. He loved her.

She couldn't believe him.

"What?"

"You heard what I said, sweetheart."

She shook her head, slightly dazed. Perhaps the heat, the excitement, the color, the dancing, maybe it had all gone to her head to make this dream come to life.

"You don't believe me?" He asked, watching her astonished face.

"I find it hard to believe."

"Why?" He asked, frowning at her insecurity. How could the woman not see that she was a goddess, a pure angel, the most celestial being of light?

"I mean, its me. I'm never the first choice, I'm never the one. And you have everything, you've fought to get everything. I barely register – "

Klaus cut her off with his lips, kissing her and biting her bottom lip softly in admonishment.

"You can't see yourself clearly, love. You are absolutely everything. Forget about those lowlifes who ever told you otherwise. You say I've fought to get everything? I fought to get you. And I am prepared to fight every day till the end of time to continue to have you."

Caroline felt her undead heart pick up speed at his declaration, fluttering wildly in her chest, but she knew still who she was talking to. He was Niklaus Mikaelson, the man with no heart. He couldn't love…

"How do you know what you feel for me? You said yourself, you don't feel, don't care, don't have a heart – "

"I know what I said. I know who I used to be. That's my story, that's my past. I don't want to be that man with you anymore. I want to start a new story, and I want to have it with you." Klaus said. "I'm never going to change who I am. You know that just as much as I do. But I want to have a heart with you. You found the heart I thought I didn't have any more. I want you to have my heart, and guard it well."

Caroline looked at him so hopefully, and he was so proud and happy that he could give her what she wanted, because he wanted it just as much.

"I love you, Caroline."

She kissed him this time, only breaking away once to murmur against his lips.

"Truly?"

"Of course, love."


	27. Family Matters

"I'm here." Rebekah announced noisily, tossing her bags down in the hallway, and listening out for her family. She strutted across the marble tiled floor, her heels creating a marching rhythm for her sassy walk. "Anyone? Hello?" She sighed. "Or are you all too busy being lovesick."

"Bekah!"

The blonde rounded the corner to find Kol, Eva, Klaus, Caroline and Elijah gathered in the living room, waiting for her.

"Surprise, you crazy girl." Eva chuckled, as she and Caroline pounced on the smiling Original.

"I thought you'd all be off being antisocial!"

"No, you just couldn't resist the insult." Caroline amended, squeezing her in a hug again.

"Welcome back, little sister." Elijah strolled up.

"And where is your little lady?" Rebekah asked warily.

"She'll be arriving tomorrow to show us around Israel, but she knew we'd need some space with you." Elijah's voice had an ever so slightly warning tone to it, and Rebekah nodded to show her acceptance and agreeance in both regards.

"Enough chitchat, come say hello to me Beks." Kol grinned, and she rolled her eyes but gave him a warm hug.

"Hello, sister dear." Klaus drawled.

"Hello, irritating brother." She returned in the same manner. "I trust your trip with Caro went swimmingly?"

"Oh, one could certainly say that." He smirked over at Caroline, who smiled beautifully back at him, the picture of bright happiness.

Rebekah looked between the two of them with a frown. "Okay, this is more sickeningly adorable than usual. What happened?"

"Nothing much." Caroline lied casually, not breaking eye contact with Klaus. Even across the room and not touching one another, the chemistry between them crackled and sparked like an electric livewire.

"Its anyones guess, really." Kol began, and the room heaved a collective sigh in anticipation of his next remark. "I'm going to put my money on some sort of Karma Sutra stuff in India."

"Really?" Eva frowned, thumping his chest with her hand. "That's gross even for you. I don't know how I'm with you."

"I don't think you want me to share with the room how you've been with me." Kol smirked, catching her hand against his chest almost tenderly.

"Alright, and this is why I left." Rebekah shut her eyes and raised her hands, half wishing she could just will herself out of there, but knowing she'd miss her family the second she left.

"Yes, and how was your trip to…oh, wait, Caroline neglected to divulge your little holiday location." Klaus mentioned dryly, and Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Its all so you can learn to let things slide a little easier. You didn't need to know where she was unless it was serious. You can trust me. You can trust me with anything." Caroline's words instantly softened Klaus' eyes, and he nodded, eyes locked on hers.

"Have they been like this since they came back from their trip?" Rebekah asked.

"Yup." Eva confirmed.

"Worse." Kol nodded.

"My guess is they robbed some temple only Bonnie and Clyde style." Eva mused.

"Nup, too small scale. They've stolen something from an ancient vampire lord and they have to keep it secret." Kol said.

"Makes sense about all the weirdness and the trust things." Rebekah agreed.

"Either that or Caroline's just broken our brother." Kol smirked.

"Enough." Elijah snapped, more agitated than usual at the thought that his own companion would have to enter this madhouse as well. He exhaled slowly. "Rebekah, how was the trip?"

"Good, uneventful." She said casually.

"That's code for 'shits gone down and I need to talk to Caroline'." Eva deciphered.

"Oh, don't be silly, Eva." Rebekah scoffed. "I'll need to talk to  _both_  of you."

"Of course, my apologies." The honey blonde replied sarcastically, extracting herself from Kols hands with a cheeky grin over her shoulder towards him as he scowled at her while she retreated to the hall to grab Rebekah's bag.

"Caro?" Rebekah tilted her head not too subtly towards the stairs.

"Alright, I got the message Beks." Caroline sighed, pressing a kiss to Klaus' cheek.

 _'Love you'_ she mouthed against his stubble. She stepped away to follow Rebekah, and he pulled her back, caressing his lips along her jawline to her ear.  _'Love you most'_  he breathed, low enough for only her to hear.

Rebekah had to forcibly tug Caroline away. "Honestly, I don't know whats gotten into the pair of you fools." She muttered, stomping up the stairs with the two blondes in tow.

"I'd say your brothers, but I know that it'd just lead to a Bekah outburst." Eva smirked, ducking as a pillow from Rebekah's bed was chucked at her face. "See?"

"That's why I didn't say that." Caroline rolled her eyes, closing the door to her room and looking at her expectantly. "So?"

"Hold your horses, don't be too excited." Rebekah scoffed, pulling a bundle of herbs from her bag and, setting them in a dish by the side of her bed, lighting them with a match.

"What the hell are you doing?" Caroline exclaimed.

"Its sage, isn't it?" Eva asked, sitting on the bed.

"Yep. When I realized that I'd be staying a bit with my brothers, who are as nosy as dogs, I got in touch with a few witches to get an instant privacy supply." Rebekah set down the steadily burning sage in its dish, and sat on the bed next to Eva. "So."

"Yes?" Caroline and Eva asked expectantly, Caroline joining them on the bed enthusiastically.

"So…"

"Yes…?"

"So,"

"Oh for goodness sake, Rebekah, come on!" Eva cried. "Where were you?"

"Caroline gave me a ticket somewhere." Rebekah hedged.

"Where?"

"Its not important where." Caroline assured Eva, before turning back to Rebekah. "What's important is who you went to visit."

"Yes." The blonde Original nodded slowly, enjoying her power and control as the two girls eagerly awaited what she would say next.

"WHO DID YOU VISIT?" Eva burst out, practically humming in anticipation.

"Calm down, Evie!" Rebekah soothed, but Caroline tapped her knee.

"No, she has a point, get to the end of your story!"

"The pair of you! Honestly, I can't be that exciting. Clearly my brothers aren't good enough entertainment." Rebekah smirked.

"JUST TELL ME!" Eva poked Rebekah repetitively, and Caroline joined in, till they were all in a fit of giggles lying down on the bed. Caroline was happy that Eva and Rebekah could act a little bit of their true human age with her. It was too much to ask them to act their age when that involved centuries and centuries of living, and sometimes it was good to just let go and have a little more humanity in them.

"Fine, I'll tell you." Rebekah sighed as they all looked up at the ceiling.

"Who did you go and see?" Caroline asked, genuinely curious. Rebekah was known for many things, one of them being the many men that she could get along with. She was almost like Elena in that sense, only she would dedicate herself to a man at a time, rather than stringing many along at once.

"I don't know if I should say  _who_." Rebekah said, not knowing how Caroline would react.

"Why?"

"Cause things have changed."

"Excuse me?" Caroline raised her head to look at Rebekah, her eyebrows close to her hairline.

"Don't give me that you've-been-murdering-puppies look, bunny muncher." Rebekah snapped in response.

"For the record, I don't do the Salvatore diet." Caroline sassed back. "But ignoring that, what's changed?"

"Everything." Rebekah sighed.

"Would someone please just say what's going on in plain colloquial English?" Eva grumbled.

"There is a person that I met up with. And that turned into persons. Plural."

"You went back to Mystic Falls?"

"Not exactly."

"Hold up, what do you mean not exactly?" Caroline frowned at Rebekah. "I bought the ticket, I know where you were meant to go."

"Your little friends got a bit mixed up looking for something. I knew a bit about it and followed them on their adventure." Rebekah said slowly, not wanting to give too much away. She knew Caroline, and if she thought that her friends were in grave danger that she could help with, she'd drop everything to get to them. The Mystic Falls crew could take care of themselves. Rebekah liked Caroline deep down, knew that she was a good edition to their bizarre world, and that she had the potential to stay there. She just needed to buy some more time till she knew that Caroline would stay with them for good.

"Is everything alright?" Caroline was instantly sitting up.

"Its all fine, keep your shirt on." Rebekah tsked, tugging the blonde back down so they all curled on the bed sheets.

"I am so lost right now." Eva sighed, just waiting for Rebekah to get to the drama of her story. "Just get to the part about the people. How many?"

Rebekah glanced towards Caroline. "Two."

"Bekah!"

"Really? Both Damon Salvawhore and Matt?" Caroline wrinkled her nose.

"Caro! I have  _some_  dignity."

"Then who?"

"Matt didn't come along, he staying in Mystic Falls. And it was probably for the best, because it got a little bit supernatural."

"That doesn't sound right."

"Eva!" Caroline exclaimed before turning back to Rebekah. "Then who is this other guy?"

"Vaughn. He's a hunter."

"Oh." Eva said, her face turning serious. "But I thought they were all…"

"Turns out they aren't."

Okay, now  _I_  am so lost." Caroline sighed. "A hunter? Like Alaric?"

"No, like the original hunters. Five of them who teamed up with a witch to protect…" Rebekah stopped, reaching out and patting Caroline's shoulder. "Never mind. I'll tell you later."

"I feel like I've missed out on so much." Caroline whined.

"Forget that, lets focus on the real stuff." Eva said, taking Caroline's role of head interrogator. "Do you really want to go down that road again with a hunter?"

"You've hooked up with a 'hunter' before?" Caroline asked.

"Its not like that." Rebekah hushed them. "I'm just saying that this guy showed up and…I felt something."

Eva and Caroline both mock gasped.

"You felt something?" Eva asked.

"Impossible!" Caroline exclaimed.

Rebekah hit them both simultaneously with a pillow to the face.

…

"What do you think they're talking about up there?" Kol asked his older brothers as the three Mikaelson men sat around the lounge.

"I don't know, nor do I care." Klaus said flippantly.

"You don't want to know where our baby sister has been gallivanting off to?" Kol's eyebrows shot up. "What's happened to you, Nik?"

"Why does anything have to have happened to me?" Klaus said with a roll of his eyes, but he caught Elijah looking at him knowingly.

"That's true. Nothing has. And yet the divine Miss Caroline has soothed you somewhat."

"Not soothed, Kol." Elijah interjected, regarding Klaus with a tilted head. "Matured. She hasn't just grown on you. She has made you grow, Niklaus."

"I'll say." Kol scoffed into his scotch, wincing at the slap aimed at the back of his head.

"Don't be crass." Elijah warned, but Klaus hadn't moved an inch, contemplating Elijah's words.

"You're right, brother."

"I'm always right." Kol interrupted, dodging the slap this time. Klaus inhaled slowly through his nose and then exhaled before continuing to talk to Elijah.

"You're right, Elijah. She is truly something else."

"Considering we have been existing for a thousand years, Caroline seems to be the influence that made you mature properly. I will be forward and assume that everything has been said and done."

"And I might be planning the next progression too." Klaus admitted carefully, in new and foreign territory as he had only spoke of women as objects with Elijah, nothing of anymore value to him than the warmth and blood they provided. Now, now that someone truly mattered to him outside of his family, it was difficult for him to admit that he may want to include them into their crazy messed up family. But he was thankful for it, for it made his brother's face light up in a manner he hadn't seen in years, a mixture between pride and hopeful joy. Despite Klaus' denial of being a true part of the family, he was still a sibling to the Mikaelsons deep down – he wanted his older brothers approval.

Kol sat there with a frown, glancing between his two older brothers. "Hold up, what's going on? What happened?"

"You'll understand one day, Kol."

"I am just as old as you both, don't dismiss me." Kol tried to say levelly, but ended up whining anyway. "Tell me what just happened!"

…

"Enough about my love life, I think its only fair to hear about yours." Rebekah sighed, screwing up her nose and preparing herself for the worst. "What've you got to say about my disgusting brothers? And by the way, neither of you chose the one who is actually a proper gentleman, which probably just proves what idiots you both are."

"Thanks, Bekah." Caroline rolled her eyes, looking over at Eva who shrugged.

"Hey, I'm not one to deny my insanity. I chose Kol."

"How is that going?"

"Interestingly." Eva said slowly. "He's an asshole sometimes and really immature at other times, but all in all, I can't say I'm not happy."

"You are much more than happy." Rebekah noted. "You've got that spark that I thought you had lost centuries ago."

"I did lose it centuries ago, when I lost your brother." Eva said seriously. "But its back now, and I'm glad for it. I couldn't live without it." She smiled unknowingly as she said her last words, before turning the attention to Caroline, uncomfortable with the pleased looks both blondes were giving her.

"Carolina? Your turn."

"Yes, Caro, please tell us what the heck you did to make Nik even weirder than normal?" Rebekah asked, and Caroline scoffed.

"He didn't need my help to get weirder. But we had fun on the trip, that's all."

"Did he actually get involved in Holi?" Rebekah, who had been well versed in all aspects of the trip due to Caroline conning her into helping with credit cards and the like.

"Yes. He didn't seem to be willing to accept the idea, but he certainly seemed happy at the time." Caroline smiled secretly to herself, remembering the joy they had both felt as they wove through the streets back to their room, covered in colors and beaming at each other like two fools, eventually not even making it back to the room and lying together in a secluded field, basking in the sunlight, the happiest they had ever been. Together.

"Okay, whats that." Eva asked, bringing Caroline from her daze.

"Hmm? Whats what?"

"That. That face." Eva smirked as Caroline started to blush. " _That one_. The one where you look like the cat that got the canary…" Eva's eyes widened, and she gasped, pointing. "OH! Oh! Oh?"

"Oh, oh, oh?" Caroline teased, but she smiled, nodding.

"OH!" Eva shrieked, jumping across the bed and Rebekah's relined form to embrace the baby vampire. "That's wonderful! I never thought it was possible!"

"Oh what?" Rebekah frowned, not in on the joke.

"Look at that healthy, cheeky face and tell me that you don't think something happened between her and Klaus." Eva pointed out to Rebekah, who still frowned.

"I still don't get it."

"They said that they loved each other!"

"You hadn't done that already?!" Rebekah exclaimed.

"When would we have said that?" Caroline asked.

"I don't know. Kol and I had just assumed you had, because you bloody acted like you did!" Rebekah huffed, before smiling and hugging her as well.

"What do you mean we acted like it?"

"Oh, come on." Eva pulled a face. "Those lingering stares, the touches, how he always protected you,"

"How he didn't like it when any of us talked to you for too long, like we were going to convince you to leave as soon as possible." Rebekah added.

"How you  _didn't_ leave as soon as possible." Eva piped up.

"How he basically did everything all for you."

"How you basically did everything all for him."

"How he changed around you."

"How you changed but kept your ground."

"How many times he called you 'love' or 'sweetheart' or some other pet name, cause he doesn't really do that to anyone else anymore, poppet."

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Caroline laughed. "It was obvious."

"I think everyone knew it." Rebekah summarized.  
"I'm fairly certain people were discussing it on Tumblr and Twitter." Eva added.

"Why are you talking about falling over and bird calls?" Rebekah shook her head.

"Oh, Bekah-bitch," Caroline smiled, pulling out a laptop from one of the bags. "We've got so much to catch up on."

…

"Is everyone here?" Elijah paced around the living room, eyes scanning over the occupants before checking the windows for the umpteenth time. His family and their guests sat relaxing around the room, a far cry from his agitated state.

"Yes, Elijah. You've checked at least a hundred times." Kol rolled his eyes, ignoring Eva's elbow jabbing a warning into his ribcage.

"How about you sit down," Caroline offered, shifting closer to Klaus on the couch to make room for the Original, yet he turned down her gesture with a shake of his elegant head. "You're going to work yourself into a state."

"Little late for that now, Caro." Rebekah said, combing her fingers through the ends of her hair in a bored manner.

A timid knock sounded at the door, and Elijah jolted halfway across the room to get it before calming himself to a more human pace. Klaus chuckled beside Caroline, and she shot him a frown.

"Be more supportive, your brother is having a hard time here."

"Who do you think had to endure me for the months in Mystic Falls as you evaded me?" He returned, and she paused before shrugging and settling back into his shoulder.

A woman walked into the hall with a smile, eyeing the high ceilings and sleek modern finish. "Nice place, 'Lijah."

 _'Lijah?'_  Rebekah and Kol mouthed to each other across the room.

"Thank you, Gwen." Elijah smiled slightly, a surprising but pleasant expression for the thousand year old vampire. "Would you follow me to the living room?"

"No, I was planning on giving myself a self-service tour." Gwen chuckled sarcastically, before realizing they had company in the open lounge room. "Oh."

"Allow me to introduce my family." Elijah said smoothly, introducing them all.

"Hello, yes, I do remember Rebekah, Kol and Eva." Gwen said. "Though Klaus and Caroline are new additions."

"I'm fairly certain its you who is the new addition." Rebekah said snarkily, ignoring the glare Caroline shot her way.

"Pleasure to meet you." Caroline said politely, smiling warmly and noting Gwen's nervous smile back.

"So, Elijah, would you like to take a walk?" Gwen asked, clearly nervous enough to want to escape.

"Oh, I was hoping we'd get a chance for you to show us around today." Caroline cut in before Elijah could draw breath to respond, surprising everyone with her outburst.

"Really?" Gwen asked.

"Of course." Caroline continued. "Elijah's told us that you'd offered to show us around. How do you know the area?"

"I travelled here some years ago. Its changed a bit since I was here last, but its still relatively similar."

"That's good. I'm really looking forward to walking around with someone who knows the area well." Caroline smiled. "When were you here last?"

"A while back." Gwen looked carefully backwards to Elijah, who nodded, and she sighed and continued. "A couple of decades ago."

Klaus' fingers gently tapped Caroline's side in recognition of the information she was uncovering.

"Must have been different back then." Caroline said pleasantly. "Travelling alone or in a group? I do remember it being a little hostile back then."

"Sort of both." Gwen answered. "Though I was more than capable of taking care of myself."

"Wonderful, then you must have seen so much!" Caroline said, nodding. "Can't wait to walk around with you."

Everyone paused, wondering who would take the floor next. Elijah stepped in before Kol – or worse, Klaus – could start interrogating Gwen.

"I'll show you around."

"Thank you." She said a little too quickly, and Elijah assured that she vanished from the room before anyone could intercept them.

"Well that was interesting." Eva commented, toeing off her shoes and curling up a little more informally on the seat with Kol.

"Quite informative." Kol smirked. "So, werewolf or vampire? My bet is werewolf."

"How would that even be possible?" Rebekah shook her head questioningly. "She said she was here two decades ago, she'd have to be a vampire."

"It could have been as a child, genius. And that whole bit about the group travelling could have been as a pack."

"Or you could be making assumptions." Eva tsked. "Personally I do agree with the fact that she could have been born and raised here, but I think she's human. She seems scared enough."

"I'm guessing neither of you can smell her, can you?" Rebekah asked.

"Nope. She's been downwind almost all the time, and Elijah's keeping her well guarded." Kol mused.

"What about you, Carolina?" Eva looked over to the blonde curled up in Klaus' arms. "What's your guess?"

"She is what she is." Caroline answered simply, too content toying with the tips of Klaus' fingers to devote too much thought to the topic.

"Nik? Whats your guess?" Rebekah asked.

"Unless it's a danger to our family, I couldn't care less." Klaus drawled languidly.

"What has gotten into you two?!" Kol exclaimed while Eva and Rebekah shared a smug knowing look.

"Never you worry your pretty face about it." Caroline tutted.

"While that is charming of you, darling, we really ought to tone down our chemistry till sweet Eva and Nik leave the room." Kol said playfully, wheezing as Eva elbowed him in the gut.

"Rude, boy."

"You know you want me."

"And if you're not careful I might just tie you down – "

" _Eva!_  My  _ears_." Rebekah yowled.

"Let me finish, Beks!" Eva turned back to Kol. "I might tie you down and let you bleed for hours and hours upon end, and – "

A dry cough sounded from the doorway, and the family turned to see Gwen looking slightly disturbed and Elijah looking disappointed.

"Don't worry, it's always like an episode of The Addams Family here." Caroline assured Gwen.

"Well that's pleasant." She said. "Thanks for the warning."

…

They walked through the streets, looking like a tourist group as they passed by in their gaggle of seven.

Eva and Kol were at the front, pointing oddities out and teasing each other. They had their fun, gaining love and respect from each other by the witty retorts they could throw innocently at one another.

Rebekah, Klaus and Caroline were in the middle, socializing remarkably well considering they had all at one time or another been enemies in Mystic Falls. Klaus liked seeing his sister get along with his lover, and interjecting teasing comments about the pair of them every once in a while, to which they both responded enthusiastically.

Elijah and Gwen made up the end of the group, meandering slowly and pondering aloud to each other at every step. Fragments of their intelligent sentences would occasionally reach the ears of the Mikaelsons before them, and Klaus, Rebekah and Kol shared more than one look of approval over Gwen's surprising point of view.

"She's a vampire." Rebekah sing-songed quietly for only them to hear.

"She's a human." Eva disagreed softly.

"She's a werewolf." Kol shook his head.

The three of them scowled at each other before glancing back to make sure they hadn't been overheard by Elijah and Gwen – who were still engrossed in their conversation – before continuing to walk.

Caroline noticed Klaus' funny smirk. "What?"

"What, what?" Klaus cocked an eyebrow at her, and she rolled her eyes at him.

"You know what. What's that face for?"

"Its my face, love." He said, and continued when she gave him a look. "I just find all this guesswork very interesting."

"You know what she is." Caroline said slowly, trusting his knowing expression.

"You'll find out soon enough, angel." He said, and she frowned, but knew that if he wouldn't tell her, she couldn't get it out of him no matter how hard she tried.

Elijah and Gwen directed them to an intellectual sight first – the Shrine of the Book where the Dead Sea Scrolls were kept. Caroline impressed Gwen with her excitement over seeing such a significant document, while Eva and Kol's faces drew inwards at the thought of such a serious matter. Klaus and Rebekah weren't too enthused till the significance of the trip was shown to them.

"These are even older than you guys." Caroline pointed out, wandering along the rows of glass cabinets containing the Isaiah scroll in all its 54 column, 66 chapter biblical glory. "You are, like, babies, compared to this amazing thing."

"And what does that make you, my little baby?" Rebekah smirked back at Caroline, who lifted her nose in the air regardless.

"We didn't even know this was in circulation when we were born." Klaus murmured, running a hand across the top of the glass shelf forlornly, wishing he could touch something so old, so close to home and who he had been. He flexed his fingers and cleared his throat, smiling down at Caroline. "Ready to move on?"

Eva and Kol lead the charge out of the building an hour later, after every one of the 800 recovered manuscripts had been devoured mentally. They trudged and drove and trudged again, till finally they reached it.

"Here we are." Gwen called out from behind them as they reached the wall. "Say hello to paradise."

The Red Sea stretched out wide and open and a lovely shade of blue before them, sparkling like a jewel in the sun. Eva and Kol were naturally the first ones down and into the water, splashing about like a pair of four year old kids. Rebekah joined them after an eye roll. Elijah and Gwen disappeared for a walk along the beach, and finally Klaus and Caroline were in some bit of privacy. Only Klaus wouldn't go in the water, much to Caroline's dismay.

"Its just water."

"No."

"Do you melt in water or something?" Caroline teased.

"Yes." Klaus replied stubbornly, making the blonde huff.

"Why wont you just go in?"

"Really, love?" Klaus asked with a raised eyebrow. "I'm the worlds most deadly immortal being and you expect me to frolick in the surf with my siblings in broad daylight?"

"Alright, one – I never said the word frolic." Caroline looked at him from under raised eyebrows. "Because I can't imagine the term frolic being something you'd regularly use. And two – please, Nik? For me?"

Klaus scowled at her. "You're just going to exploit that demand, aren't you."

"I'll use it for every inch its worth."

"Very well then." Klaus conceded, making Caroline jump like an excited kid at Christmas. "But don't expect any other miracles."

"I wont get my hopes too far up, you exceed all expectations anyway." She agreed, kissing him sweetly. "Thank you, love."

When Caroline turned away to change, Klaus allowed a small smile to creep across his lips at the sound of her repeating his own pet name back to him with just as much love and hope and beauty.

Then she was pulling him into the surf, diving under the clear waters and surfacing like a mermaid.

"You are stunning, love." He murmured sincerely, and she beamed.

Of course, it was followed by a shriek as Eva swam up from below her and tugged at her ankles.

"SO not funny." Caroline scowled as the honeyed blonde came up laughing.

"You need to work on your pickup lines, brother, that is the least funny thing here." Kol swam up, and Klaus pushed him away.

"Go stare at your reflection on the water for a bit."

"Been there, done that. " Kol scoffed, before smiling cheekily at Eva. "Done you, too."

"And if that's your pickup line, you never will 'do that' again." Eva tutted.

"Can't be the worst you've ever heard." Rebekah commented, and Eva contemplated.

"True. The worst one was: 'Whats a nice girl like you doing in a dirty mind like mine'."

"Please, that's not as bad as 'I'll cook you dinner if you'll cook me breakfast'." Caroline laughed.

"Nup. 'Can I borrow a quarter, cause I told my Mom I'd ring her when I found the girl of my dreams'." Rebekah chuckled.

"How do guys seriously think these work?" Caroline asked Kol.

"Don't look at us, we got you two by weirder means."

"I doubt they'd work anyway, you don't have the charm." Eva teased Kol, who came slowly over till he was an inch away, cradled her face in his large palms, and stared intensely into her eyes.

"Was your dad a baker? Because you have a nice set of buns." It was a combination between Kol's hushed delivery, his English accent, and the setting that got Caroline in hysterics. It only brought Kol's attention to her to play with.

"Do you have any raisins?" He asked her.

"No…?" She chuckled out.

"How about a date?"

"That's a terrible one." Caroline giggled with Eva, but Klaus had had enough.

"That's a fine amount of nonsense irritation for one day, thank you brother." He snapped, taking Caroline's hand gently. "Come on, sweetheart, there's somewhere I want to show you."

"Where?" She asked, and he pulled her underwater.

They swam a fair distance away from the rest of the beach and the Mikaelsons, till they came to the bright coral reefs. Caroline was suddenly grateful for her lack of need for fresh air in her lungs and the new resilience of her vampire body as she stayed underwater with Klaus, talking in all the beautiful sights. Colors beyond imagination, fish and life in a place where there shouldn't have been, it was all so incredible to behold.

The pair past by two large boulders, and suddenly the coral changed to something even more astounding, a mock garden maze of coral extending for as far as their sharp eyes could see, teaming with life and colour. Caroline was amazed at how tame the fish seemed, swimming past her face like she wasn't the most dangerous thing there. She looked over to Klaus in excitement, before zooming through the walls of coral, exploring like a kid getting lost in a hedge maze. He followed her as best as he could, trying to protect her, trying to not lose her, for he would never forgive himself if he ever lost her. But naturally, she herself couldn't bear to be away from him for more than a few minutes at a time, and so they found each other, just in time for the impossible to happen. Caroline nearly shouted when a pod of dolphins swam past only ten feet away, seeming so tame considering there wild and intelligent animals. She turned smiling to see Klaus, wanting the sound of his voice at a moment like this, but settling for his lips instead.

When they made their way back to shore, everyone was there, listening to Rebekah's tales from Mystic Falls.

"Ah, good, you're back." She noted as Caroline and Klaus walked up hand in hand. "There's something I'd like to suggest."

"What's that, Beks?"

Rebekah looked them dead in the eye. "Lets return to Mystic Falls."


	28. Almost Home

The Mikaelsons were a family divided. And consequentially, so were their guests.

Rebekah wanted to return to Mystic Falls for reasons unfathomable to some of her brothers. And as she had proposed her idea to the entire troupe of misfit people that they called their family, others had agreed with her idea for reasons of their own.

Elijah had agreed simply due to the fact that he cared about some of the inhabitants of the town and knew that the Original family had abandoned them to a potentially greater threat. He was a little reluctant due to his newfound….relationship with Gwen, but had agreed regardless.

Gwen, having no ties to the town, was not so keen to go, but if it meant going with an interesting man and his intimidating family, she was up for the adventure. She'd like to see where it went…both where her relationship with Elijah was headed and where on Earth this tiny town called Mystic Falls actually was.

Kol was not as chipper. Granted, the last time he had been in Mystic Falls, the occupants had not been so welcoming, and when he had returned after his brother had left, if only momentarily to collect his little sister and whisk her away to annoy their brother and his girl in Vienna, the so-called 'Scooby gang' had acted brashly against his attempts to help. Things were not going to be pleasant with his return, but it was  _his_  home initially, so let them all be damned.

Eva was curious, as usual, however it was heightened by Rebekah's mystery man drama, Kol's instant anger at the thought of returning, and the uproar from the other members of the family. She knew she'd be in for a real drama, and she liked the thought of that excitement. Plus she somehow couldn't imagine being without the Mikaelsons, at least for the time being. So she was in.

Klaus was torn. He secretly didn't want to return for fear of Caroline leaving him and pretending that nothing had ever happened between them. However, he knew that if she was to ever stay with him forever, as he intended, she would need to make her peace with the family she had left behind, and potentially visit in the future thereafter.

Caroline was torn. While she missed her friends and mom, and she wanted to see her home town, she was frightened of the idea that Klaus might leave her there and pretend that nothing had ever happened between them. However, she knew that she had to return with the Mikaelsons to eventually start her new life with them, if they let her stick around.

The inevitable fight ensued once Rebekah had dropped the suggestion bomb; namely where various items were flung at family members, Rebekah pouted far more than necessary to get the baby-sister-vote, Elijah kept his cool only for Gwen's sake, Klaus paced like an agitated wildcat looking for a fight, and Kol had multiple threats for his neck to be snapped for being 'such an irritating brat'.

However, the worst part came when the attention was returned to Caroline's involvement.

"She needs to go back, Nik." Rebekah pointed out.

Klaus growled wordlessly, neither disagreeing nor agreeing with the sentence.

"Why do I need to go back?" Caroline piped up, gaining everyone's attention. "Why can't I just stay here?"

"Sweetheart, surely you want to return." Klaus reasoned, not wanting her to talk herself out of going, for it was certainly going to benefit her.

"No, that's not part of it." Caroline evaded, moving onto another tactic. "Why can't we just stay here, Nik? You promised to show me the world, and we've only just begun to really explore parts of it. I want to go to Brazil, Morocco, revisit Turkey, explore Africa and the places you haven't gone. Hell, I want to go to Australia. Why can't we just explore the world like you promised?" She asked, playing for the manipulating pity vote.

Klaus could not be shaken on his resolve, no matter how hard he was rattled by her words. "No, you need to return."

"Why do I  _need_  to?" She frowned.

"You  _have_ to go back." Klaus said with finality.

"Why do you want to send me away?"

"Because I care about you!"

"Its because you want me away, isn't it?!"

" _Caroline!_ " The Mikaelsons exclaimed in warning, knowing how their brother could react to such a statement. Elijah, Kol and Rebekah all seemed to almost reach towards Caroline as if they could stop the sentence from leaving her lips. But the words were out there, floating in the small space between Klaus and Caroline as they growled into each others faces, neither one a type of person to back down from a fight. Klaus' face turned cold and reserved, and Caroline recognised the move. It was the same one he had done when he had first opened up to her at the ball at Mystic Falls, the first time she had read him accurately, and the first time he had stopped being a gentleman and started putting up the walls of protection around himself.

"Yes, that is exactly why I want you to go. To be away from me,  _love_." He said with a bitter tone, making her wonder if commenting that she had loved him was ever going to be a good thing in his eyes, rather than something she had secretly not meant. She had never felt something as strong as she did for him, and she knew it was life changing. And so if she never saw her family and friends again, it would be acceptably life changing, and far more so than if she never saw  _him_ again. If she never saw him again, it wouldn't just be life changing, it would be life ending.

But the damage was done, and Klaus left the room after a final scathing look.

Gwen bit her lip. What kind of crazy messed up thing had she become involved in? Either way, it was nothing compared to her family tree.

They all retreated to their own corners of the house to lick their wounds.

After some time apart, Caroline found Klaus in the study, bourbon bottle in hand as he sketched on old parchment paper. It was the first landscape she had seen him working on; the sea they had dived in only hours before.

He surely had heard her come in, but Klaus didn't say a word, even as she slowly perched on the arm of his desk chair and draped an arm across his broad shoulders.

"Being the moody artistic soul you are, I see." Caroline murmured as a hello.

"Would you rather that than me going on a rampage and draining people?" Klaus retorted, not really meaning it, but he couldn't help himself. She was going to leave him, he had convinced himself of that.

"Of course I wouldn't rather that." She snapped, taking a deep breath in to remember herself.

"I thought I made it clear I would prefer to be alone." He said, his hand never faltering as he shaded steady swooping lines of black.

"No one would prefer to be alone." Caroline sighed, pressing her lips to his hair. "Especially not us. We're the same, Nik. We can't stand to be alone, even if we hurt other people."

"Not you, Caroline." Klaus muttered, closing his eyes. "No, sweetheart, you're an angel. You don't hurt other people. Its not in your nature."

"If I'm an angel, I'm your guardian angel." She whispered. "And I'm not leaving you. Because I love you."

Caroline found herself in his lap in a flash, whipped around from sitting on the arm of the chair to being stretched out across his legs, looking him dead in the eye with only an inch between them.

"But you will leave, sweetheart. I know that." It came out as a desperate growl, his fingers digging possessively in her hips despite his talk of her leaving, his eyes searching hers like she knew they would search for a thousand lifetimes after if she ever left of her own volition. And yet she also knew that he could be cruel, and capable of making her leave if he felt it was the right thing to do, or if he got bored – her confidence had never quite bounced back after Damon and Matt had not felt like she was enough compared to Elena.

"Will you make me leave, Niklaus?" Caroline asked, her voice hitching slightly on the verge of a whimper.

He pressed his forehead to hers almost too hard, wanting her that close and even closer. "Never."

"Then I will never leave you."

"I love you." He sighed. "But I don't deserve you."

"You deserve so much more." She whispered.

"You are more." He rumbled, angry at the thought that she considered herself not enough. "And I plan on proving that to you from here till the end of existence, and the eternity of time that lies between."

…

Klaus somehow managed to find the only flight that got in to New Orleans, because of 'business' he had to take care of before they continued onwards to Mystic Falls and whatever drama awaited them there.

That 'business' was made clearer as they pulled up to what Caroline could only describe as a mansion, the marble building surrounded by a strip of garden and large stone walls that were flanked closely either side by regular apartment townhouses.

"Wow. This is…wow." She commented as they walked up the drive. "Does your family just own everything?"

"We do, but that's beside the point." Klaus said smugly. "This is our New Orleans abode, but there is someone who already lives inside it who I still am not so convinced you should meet."

"Who? And why are they living in your place?" Caroline asked, her usual curiosity getting the better of her.

"You'll know soon enough." Klaus said with a slight frown, still clearly not comfortable with the introduction about to take place.

"If you want I can wait till your family gets here." Caroline said, but Klaus shook his head.

"Best to do this now. Just think the way you did during the party in Italy and everything should be fine." Klaus shot her a serious look from under his brows. "That means – "

"Thinking before I speak, no tender moments that show you have a heart and soul, and no following strangers with a vengeance plan out to the garden." She finished. "Did I miss anything?"

Klaus growled lightly under his breath, but his temper around Caroline had improved. "Just one." He said, suddenly pulling her body flush against his and kissing her fiercely. Caroline gasped, the surprise allowing his tongue in to play with hers, letting him breathe her quick breath, letting her be claimed as his. He pulled back, leaving her overwhelmed.

"What was that?" She asked breathlessly.

"You're mine." Klaus answered, his dark tones adding possessiveness to the statement. "And everyone should know that."

And without further explanation, he opened the door unceremoniously to the house and led her inside.

"Marcel?"

All it took was one word from Klaus and the man he called was there by the foot of the grand staircase in the hall. Marcel stood tall, hands clasped behind his back as he waited for Klaus and Caroline to draw near. Caroline instantly understood why she would need to act the way she had in Italy – the man shared that same manner about him that Alexander had, almost bordering on defiance. She could tell that Klaus sensed it too, by the way he stood strong and yet relaxed, a panther waiting to strike, a king in his domain.

"Hello, old friend." Klaus drawled, approaching him like he was the one in control, despite them approaching the man who till then had had free run of the house.

"Hello, capitaine." Marcel replied, flitting back and forth between his American and French accents, showing his age and descent. He must have been from the original French colony that founded New Orleans.

"Thank you for allowing us into the house." Klaus said, eyes narrowing, testing his old student.

"Well, it is your estate." Marcel said, knowing better than to claim anything as his own when it belonged to the Original Hybrid.

"That it is." Klaus said coldly, reminding him. He placed a hand on the small of Caroline's back. "Forgive me, may I introduce the charming Miss Caroline Forbes. Caroline, this is Marcel, my protégée of sorts."

"Pleasure to meet you." Caroline said with an air about her, taking the hint from Klaus and not reaching out to greet Marcel in any way, shape or form.

"Likewise." Marcel nodded deeply, again showing his manners from another age. His dark eyes slid over her calculatingly. "Intriguing to make your acquaintance."

"And that reminds me, we have business to discuss." Klaus said before Caroline could question Marcel's reply, his own voice betraying his anger with the harsh growl embedded within it. "Caroline, there is a library you might find illuminating if you take a right at the top of the stairs."

She got the message – wait for him there while he talked to Marcel about things she couldn't know. Caroline didn't like being bossed around, and she knew that he was enjoying her discomfort by the slight smirk on his face, but she knew better than to retort while they were in front of this peculiar new vampire. So instead, she nodded, drawing away from them to climb the stairs.

Klaus surprised her by tugging her hand and brushing a kiss to her inner wrist, both filling her with want and staking his claim again. Marcel watched, hiding his intrigue and surprise at Klaus' unprecedented move. He had never seen the Original court a woman – they usually came to him and he merely had to say a few words before he had his way with them. This woman must be something new, something different.

Caroline left the two men to their talk, wishing she could stay and know what was going on, but understanding that she wasn't fully immersed in Klaus' world. Yet. She smiled. She liked the idea of that. Being with him forever. She couldn't believe it had come to this, after hating him for what he had done. But he had never done anything to hurt her specifically. She could only imagine how that might have changed if she had resisted for longer, if she had stayed in Mystic Falls and continued to deny her feelings and his own. No, this was better. This was how it was meant to be. They were together, and she knew that others might not agree with it, but she was  _happy._ She hadn't been happy for the longest time as drama after miserable drama had occurred in her home town. She was happy that she had escaped it to find happiness.

Caroline knew that her friends wouldn't be so agreeable. She had been very careful not to reveal where she was going or who she was with, and she could imagine that with Tyler back in town the truth might have come out.

Elena, potentially, might understand a little. She knew of the struggle Caroline had been having. Even so, there was no telling how she could react when she saw how close Caroline and Klaus were.

Stefan would be another matter. He had no idea of the feelings she had for Klaus, had thought that she had left Mystic Falls with him to protect them all. He had been friends with Klaus, but she didn't know how he would react to the knowledge that this had occurred.

Damon…Damon would cut her a new one. And now that Klaus knew of her past with the elder Salvatore…that would not end well for anyone.

Bonnie was another one she had no idea with. She hated Klaus to a point where Caroline wasn't certain that she would accept her friend being with him. But she may have changed. By all accounts, she certainly seemed different.

Matt…she doubted he would accept it either. He was practically the only human, non-supernatural being left in town. And he didn't the Mikaelsons. Not since Rebekah and the ball debacle.

And her mom…what would her mom say? Caroline couldn't even begin to predict what she, or any of her friends, would say. She had no idea.

It was scary. But it was necessary. She knew that much. She couldn't leave everyone for eternity, and if she had to, then she at least got a chance to say goodbye to them all before she did. Because she'd rather do that than give up Klaus.

She sighed, meandering through the bookshelves of the library she had found her way to. Caroline ran her hands along the spines of a row of old leatherbound books before picking up one at random and walking over to the tall window that dominated the wall. She sat down in one of the armchairs, her fingers curling and tracing across the cover without even reading the title as she gazed out to the setting sun that glowed across the skyline of San Francisco. Everything about here was like something from a movie. The library especially was akin to the kinds she had seen in Disney movies growing up, something that wouldn't have been out of place in The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast. Well, she supposed her and Klaus could be classified as such.

Almost as if her thoughts had summoned him, Caroline felt Klaus' presence behind her and his hands trail down her neck, coming to rest on her shoulders.

"Now how did I know you'd pick my seat?" He murmured, and she closed her eyes at his soothing touch.

"I pick the best." She responded.

"That you do." Klaus replied smugly. "Though I should have guessed you'd pick up an Anne Rice novel."

Caroline glanced down to the cover of the book, noting that it was  _Interview with the Vampire_. The irony was not lost on her.

"Perhaps I was just contemplating how much you're like Lestat."

"Come come, now, love." Klaus said, his hands teasing their way down the backs of her arms, the rest of him still nowhere within her sight. "Surely you think more highly of me than that."

"That depends." She said archly.

"Depends on?"

"Depends on just how bad you're planning to be over the next few days."

"I've just been catching up on how my city is running – "

" _Your_ city?"

"Yes,  _my_  city, Caroline." She could hear the smirk in his voice, she swore she could. "And Marcel is happy to continue running it by my rules, following my control."

"Sounds like you've trained him well."

"That I have. And as for our little visit to Mystic Falls," His hands were now at her waist, sliding down to her hipbones while his lips came to drag up her neck to her ear. "Your friends will be safe. You, however, I cannot guarantee."

"You can't guarantee that I'll be safe?" Caroline asked, not daring to move an inch.

"No." Klaus murmured harshly. "I cannot guarantee that you will be safe from me." His teeth tugged at her earlobe, and electricity ran through her veins.

"Oh. Then I'll try to keep my distance." Caroline played along, pulling herself from his grasp and moving to rise from the chair. She found herself in his lap in the very same chair not a second after.

"There's no escaping me, sweetheart, I thought you'd learnt that by now." He growled into her throat, and she was irritated that she still hadn't seen his handsome face.

"Maybe you'll have to remind me." She breathed, tugging his head up so she could see his stormy eyes, and clash her lips against his.

"And maybe I'll just have to get a lobotomy." Rebekah's tones cut across the heated moment. The Original Blonde leaned against the doorway, unperturbed aside from her wrinkled nose at the sight of her brother and her friend curled up together.

"May I ask,  _dear_  sister, why you decided to interrupt?" Klaus snarled slightly in annoyance.

"Oh, no reason, Nik." Rebekah smiled sweetly. "Just wanted to get your mouth away from Caro. She might get infected."

He snarled louder, and Caroline pushed his shoulders back into the chair when he made to rise.

"Beks." She said warningly.

"I'm only looking out for your wellbeing, poppet."

Caroline rolled her eyes at her and pointedly kissed Klaus chastely. Despite the innocence, Rebekah still made a small noise of disgust.

"When you two are done doing whatever it is that I don't want to know about, we're planning on going out. Our old haunts are still swinging, and its time we had a good night of jazz and booze." Rebekah left the pair to their own devices.

…

The jazz club didn't hold the same dress code as it did in the 1920s, so the men forwent the tuxes and the women ditched the flapper dresses in exchange for only slightly less embellished cocktail dresses.

Gwen surprised them all by joining their nighttime adventure, ensuring that Elijah also came along. The debate for who she was still raged on for the whole night. Rebekah was convinced that she was a vampire, Kol remained steadfast in his idea that she was a werewolf, and Eva still seemed to think that she was human. Caroline could believe all of them to an extent, but there was something holding her back from making an opinion. She hated to admit it, but it was most likely the knowing look on Klaus' face.

So when he offered her his hand for a spin on the dancefloor, she instantly used it to speak more privately with him.

"Tell me."

"Tell you what, love?" Klaus asked, knowing what she wanted, but enjoying playing and teasing her. "Tell you how ravishing you look in that dress?"

It was true. Caroline was a vision in her white satin dress, the picture of innocence despite the wide criss-cross corset tie that held the dress together at her back.

Caroline beamed at the compliment, but shook her head, loosening a curl from her bun. Klaus smoothed it back with a languorous brush of his fingers, enjoying the way that she looked up at him, her wide eyes all he needed, without the mask of desire he had seen other women put up as they bit their lips suggestively and batted their eyelashes obviously. Caroline was the very essence of natural beauty and sensuality, and she didn't even need to try.

"What do you want to know, then?" He asked, willing to appease her now.

"Tell me what Gwen is. I know you know." She watched as he smiled to himself. "Tell me!" She said eagerly.

"The answer is so obvious, its almost upsetting." Klaus scoffed. "I'm surprised my siblings haven't got it."

"So tell me what she is."

"How about a process of elimination?" Klaus said, and chuckled at her impatient groan. "She can't be a werewolf, for New Years was a full moon, and that was when Elijah met her. She hasn't the temperament for it either."

"So that's Kol out." Caroline nodded. "What about Eva's idea?"

"She is far too comfortable with us to be merely a human." Klaus pointed out. "And she seems to be intuitive to everything going on, not that we've tried to hide it that well from her."

"Then she's a vampire?" Caroline asked slowly, knowing that it couldn't be the answer.

"If she did, she would know about the Original family." Klaus said.

"You guys can't be that well-known." Caroline exclaimed.

"Oh, we can, love." He replied, raising his eyebrows.

"Seriously? What have I got myself into?" She said with half a smile.

"Something very dark and dangerous." Klaus warned, and Caroline raised an eyebrow at him this time.

"Don't even think about it. I'm staying, I love you, I can handle this kind of insane darkness for the rest of my life."

"Be careful what you wish for, angel." He murmured darkly, and she knew that she shouldn't have been attracted, but she was, and nothing could help her now, she was here and she was staying.

"Don't distract me; tell me why she's not a vampire." Caroline said firmly, enjoying Klaus' smirk nevertheless. It was just so  _attractive_.

"Well, even if she was turned and she had no knowledge of us, she has been in the sun and she has no amulet. You and I can easily see that she doesn't wear any jewelry."

"She may have it hidden under her clothes." Caroline pointed out, and Klaus tapped his fingers against her back, pleased that she had thought of it.

"True. However, if any vampire had been put into the stressful place that she has, they would have reacted by now. They would have lashed out."

"She might be level-headed." Caroline said. "You know, some people are calm."

"Yes, however you and I have both seen that she does not have the temperament for it." Klaus said, reminding Caroline of Gwen's sass and how her usual temperament would not go with someone who was calm. She may have been reserved, but she wasn't calm, and no vampire could show that amount of self control to not slip up around the Mikaelsons and all their pressure.

"Then what is she?" Caroline asked, curiosity overwhelming her. "A Yeti?"

Klaus rolled his eyes at her, and she rolled them right back at him.

"Think, love. What else could she possibly be?"

It dawned slowly on Caroline. "Of course. But…no." She frowned. "How could she be old enough to know about Israel?"

"Easily. Much more than you think. Its not that difficult, I've seen it countless times over." He said.

"Well then." Caroline sighed. "That's going to make things difficult to say the least."

"Elijah will be fine." Klaus said, wanting to distract her as he saw the worry flit across her face. He made her shiver by running his hand repetitively along the corseted lines of ribbon that wove a cage across her back, consequentially allowing his touch to ever so often brush delicately against her sensitive skin.

"You're going to have to stop that." She murmured in his ear as they circled on the dance floor of the jazz club.

"Or what?" Klaus smirked. "That almost sounds like a threat, sweetheart."

"Oh, believe me, it is. Because if you don't stop, we'll leave. And if we leave, we'll return to our room and be alone rather than surrounded by strangers. And if we're alone, I won't be able to stop myself from seducing you." Caroline smiled up at him as he fought against the pleased expression that wavered over his face, substituting it for a raised eyebrow.

"How will you seduce me, love? I thought it was meant to be the other way around."

"It used to be, but every now and again its good to shake things up." Caroline mused aloud. "I was thinking handcuffs."

"Not strong enough." Klaus countered, as if it were a normal discussion about the best way to make toast or some other everyday activity.

"True. How about blindfolds?" Caroline asked, enjoying the freedom of the conversation.

"Not quite."

"I know you're probably a little bit too far into S and M, but maybe just the dressing up?" Caroline teased.

"Chains and whips for anything but torturing information out of someone is simply unimaginable to me." Klaus said dryly. "You'd want to talk to Rebekah about all that. But that is something else entirely. What kind of situation did you have in mind?"

"The usual. The soldier home from war, the burlesque dancer and her lover, the ruler and his courtesan." She smiled, remembering her training back in India and the dancing she had learnt, wanting to put her new skills to very,  _very_  good use.

"Well then we best not waste good time." Klaus said, pulling her closer, threading his fingers through the ties that kept her dress together and tugging ever so lightly, the threat that he would tear the clothes from her body being conveyed in the most sensual way. "I'll want to explore as many possibilities as possible with you."

…

They drove to Mystic Falls the next day, each of the brothers in a car with their girl. Poor Rebekah had to take the backseat of Elijah and Gwen's car, but she certainly preferred it to being with Kol and Eva – at least she would get a break from being interrogated about who waited for her in Mystic Falls.

Klaus and Caroline, who by now were accustomed to road trips together, settled into routine as they set up the music, sorted out who would drive when, and alternated between electric charged conversation and serene silence. However that all changed when Klaus took his eyes off the road to glance across and see Caroline with a worn book in her hands.

"What rubbish are you indulging yourself with now, sweetheart?" Klaus asked, the perfect mixture of teasing cruelty, soothing the biting words with his pet name at the end. "More tales of a vampire who sparkles like a diamond in the sun?"

She knew it wasn't intended to be hurtful, merely a reminder of what he had seen on her bookshelves in Mystic Falls, showing how much she had grown and changed.

"Don't belittle me." Caroline retorted sassily, her brain giving her more eloquent speech in retaliation to the idea that she was simple, despite Klaus' constant assurance that she had a brilliant mind. "I'm just pondering Shakespeare."

Klaus smiled to himself. "Ah. Dear Shakespeare. He was a poet, but not an artist."

"Says the Original Artist." Caroline scoffed, not believing his opinion for a second. It was Shakespeare after all. "But I reckon I've found a sonnet that he wrote for you." She mused. " _For I have sworn thee fair and thought thee bright, Who art as black as hell, as dark as night._ " Caroline looked up to see Klaus fighting a smirk. "What?"

"You happened to choose the one sonnet that was written about a Mikaelson, but it wasn't me." Klaus raised his brows as Caroline continued to frown quizzically at him. "It was my 'fair' sister."

"Rebekah? And Shakespeare?" Caroline couldn't even imagine the Original Blonde and the Balding Bard.

"He had a passing fancy for her. I'm certain that if you go through his literature, it could be psychologically linked back to his time with her. However, as you well know, Rebekah has had some dalliances in the past but none have ended well as of yet." Klaus said, shaking his head. Rebekah had certainly let her heart rule her head for far too many years, but then again, who was he to judge now, being so taken by Caroline, his own bright angel?

"It says here that these are his 'Dark Lady' sonnets…and I wouldn't exactly associate Beks with anything dark physically. Are you sure its her?" Caroline asked skeptically.

Klaus shot her a look and she bit back laughter – it was his 'sass' look. "Really, sweetheart? You wouldn't trust me on this?"

"I wouldn't trust you on anything." She teased, wriggling closer to him in her seat and reaching out to brush her knuckles against his jaw as he made a big deal about being hurt by her words. "You know that's not true."

"Still, I might not continue."

"Please?" Caroline purred, her fingers trailing down the back of his neck as she leaned in closer to him.

Klaus took his eyes off the road and caught her lips with his, momentarily distracting them both, till Caroline's curiousity pulled her away. The car was still steadily driving down the road, and neither of them had expected any less.

"Not fair. I did actually want to hear the tale."

"Surely not that much." Klaus murmured against the delicate skin under her jaw, trailing a tempting path down her neck that made her toes curl slightly and her fingers latch onto his forearm.

"Nik…" Caroline said as a warning, but it lacked force.

"Yes, love?"

"I want to know…"

"But you can wait…"

"I promise we'll have more time to finish this later if you tell me now."

Klaus sighed, leaning back to look at her properly. "Very well." He said, smirking slightly at her longing sigh as his mouth left her skin. "The Dark Lady was, as you know, the object of Shakespeares desire, and over the years has been claimed to be countless women, most of whom were raven haired or ebony skinned. However, they did not think to take into account that it was not so much her appearance that he stated to be black, but moreso her soul."

"That's harsh." She interrupted, but locked her lips as Klaus raised an eyebrow at her interruption.

"You know my sister to be pale skinned and blonde haired –  _fair_ and  _bright_  as he claims later. He created a different outlook so people would not expect it to be her, and so it would later imaginatively reflect her soul. He knew what she was."

"A vampire?"

"Yes. She fed on him, compelled him not to tell, but he was still able to use it in his work to artistically describe evil."

"And you say he wasn't an artist." Caroline teased.

"He wasn't." Klaus said simply.

"Then what is an artist?"

"Someone who has imaginative control." Klaus could almost see how Caroline's mind wound to more lustful things when he mentioned imagination and control, but he finished his musing thoughts before he too could get distracted by desire. "Art is control. It is manipulating materials to your will. Every choice is made by the artist. I used to not know the world nor my place in it, but art taught me that one's vision could be achieved with sheer force of will. The same is true of life, provided one refuses to let anything stand in one's way."

Caroline smiled, remembering how he had chased after her almost like a bull seeing red. "Well you certainly don't let anything stand in your way."

"I let you stand in my way for a while, love." Klaus said, reminding her of how long she had resisted him and his advances. "For far too long, some might say."

"Who are these 'some' that you speak of?" Caroline asked, but she had a laugh hidden in her voice that sparkled like beams of light off water. "But it doesn't matter now. Now we're here, and we're here together."

"Are you ready to go back, Caroline?" Klaus asked, his usual bravado slipping off like a mask and genuine concern painting his face. "You understand that we cannot possibly predict the reaction."

"I don't care." Caroline said with a determined tilt of her chin. "They're my friends and family, and I need to see them, but it doesn't matter how they react or what they do, I'm not leaving. I'm not leaving you." She said resolutely, and he loved the fiery determination she still held inside her.

"I love you." He admitted out loud.

"And I know that scares you. And I know that it scares you even more that I love you too." Caroline noted. "But the one thing that should never scare you is the idea that I'll leave you because of my friends. Because love changes everything. I should be more scared about you leaving."

She was surprised when Klaus laughed. "Where would I go, sweetheart? I've spent the last thousand years on this planet without you. And I don't ever want to be without you again. Forever."

Her heart swelled. "Forever?"

"I don't know how you would expect less than eternity from me, angel." Klaus' fingers wove through hers on the arm rest between them, making the last miles to Mystic Falls just that bit easier to cross.

They arrived at the Mikaelson's mansion at nightfall, and it was decided that Caroline would visit her mother and friends the next day.

She fell asleep in Klaus' arms in his gloriously large bed, waiting to see what the next day would bring.


	29. We Run This Town

Caroline yawned widely, ferreting around the modern kitchen in the Original house dressed in little more than her panties and Klaus' henley. She had no idea what she was looking for. All she knew was that she would start ripping out hair or ripping off heads if she didn't curb the nervous energy starting to buzz around her body. She was home in Mystic Falls, and she was going to go see her friends. And tell them the truth. What was making her nervous? Alright, obviously the last bit.

Caroline hummed her annoyance in the back of her throat, coming down from where she had been craning on tip toe to search the contents of the fridge. She closed the door and jolted when she saw Gwen looking just as startled on the other side of the door.

" _Shit."_  Gwen cussed unexpectedly. "Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you."

"It'll take a lot more than that to scare me." Caroline laughed lightly. "I have to deal with Klaus daily."

"Yeah, that's something." Gwen said, clearly with a strong opinion on the man but already edging away uncertainly.

"Hey, c'mon." Caroline said, smiling in a careful, friendly manner. "You came down here for a reason, and I'll guess that that reason is…coffee?" She gestured to the elaborate machine. "I was just about to make some for myself, wanna join me?"

Gwen glanced at her.

"I promise I'm not the scary one that bites." Caroline said truthfully.

Gwen chuckled lowly, not quite giving away whether she knew about the darker, bloody side to the family or not. Either way, she still shrugged. "Why not."

"Great." Caroline smiled. "Sugar?"

"One, please. And no milk."

Caroline prepared the warm beverage and carried it over to the bench, hopping up on a stool and inviting Gwen to do the same.

"So, how is everything?"

"Good." Gwen replied shortly.

Caroline had to refrain from giving her a look. "Your in a completely different country with a family of really odd individuals who you barely know. When someone asks you how everything is, you're allowed to express a little concern."

Gwen looked skeptically at her, wondering how much she could trust her. Caroline was thinking the same, though to be fair she had the upper hand by having more control in the situation. Though if what Klaus had inferred was true, then Gwen could potentially have better chances than Caroline at being in control.

The two girls broke the serious tension by smiling slightly at each other and sipping at their coffee. Gwen piled her brown curls into a bun that revealed a tattoo on the back of her neck and a purple streak of hair from the nape of her neck too, and Caroline took it all in wordlessly, adding it to what she already knew about who Gwen was - or rather what she was. Instead, she made conversation.

"What's brought you down here this early in the morning?" Caroline asked, nodding towards the windows that showed the six o'clock grey morning light.

"I was going to ask you the same question." Gwen admitted, and Caroline decided to make it easier for the girl and answer the question first.

"Woke up, and in a rare moment of silent bliss, Klaus was asleep. Didn't want to wake him with my growling tummy, so I came downstairs."

"Did you want to eat too?" Gwen frowned at Caroline's lonely coffee mug.

"I'm set." Caroline said. "It was more nerves than anything. Now, why are you here?"

"Same thing, really." Gwen admitted.

"Are we really that scary?" Caroline asked.

"More intimidating." Gwen explained, glancing up at the caring blonde in little flickers. "That and I know your true nature."

"Ah. Well, we haven't really been hiding it." Caroline admitted. "And I'm guessing Elijah told you."

"He had to."

"And he knows what you are?"

"Yes."

"And you're still here?" Caroline exclaimed, biting her lip at the decibel it had reached.

"Yes." Gwen said quietly. "I'm not planning on leaving."

Caroline smiled slightly, recalling the time she had said almost the exact same words, or rather the times she had said it again and again to prove to the Mikaelsons that she enjoyed their company. "I can relate – the Mikaelson's are hard to leave."

Gwen smiled, barrier down for the time being after realizing that Caroline had been in a place close to her shoes, and the two girls chatted till their coffee dregs were cold and the sun was properly greeting the sky.

Eva was the first one to come in and interrupt their chatting as she got breakfast, and made eyes at Caroline over Gwens head, a broad grin on her face. Klaus surprised Caroline soon after, smoothing his hands over her legs as he stood behind her.

"Noticed what you're wearing, love? Or rather what you're lacking?"

"Pants. Of course." Caroline made a face at Gwen. "Sorry, that explains why you were reluctant to talk to me."

"Not at all." Gwen said.

"But maybe it'd be good to get some proper pants on, Carolina." Eva added with a wink.

Caroline was almost out the door when Gwen called out after her.

"Hey, Caroline?"

"Mmm?"

Gwen smiled faintly. "Thanks, for the talk."

Caroline beamed back easily. "No problem. It was fun!"

"What did you do, Miss Forbes?" Elijah sounded from behind her, raising an eyebrow at her lack of proper dress. "Aside from wear my brothers shirt like a dress?"

"Har-de-har, Elijah." Caroline said, stepping aside for him to pass into the kitchen. "I was just entertaining your guest."

"Good morning, Gwendolyn." Elijah said formally with a pleasant air.

"Good morning, Elijah." Gwen returned in the same tones as he, before letting a proper smile cross her face. That was all that passed as a greeting between the two. But just seeing a smile on Elijah's face that bordered on goofy was a strange sight to see.

Klaus raised his brows as he silently contemplated his brothers happiness at simply seeing the peculiar girl. That was until he was distracted by Caroline poking out her tongue and pulling a comical face at him from over Elijah's shoulder, the display enough to place a similar smile on his face.

Caroline returned, still wearing Klaus' henley but adding a pair of jeans, and Eva casually yanked her into the walk-in pantry.

"So?!"

"So….?"

"What is she?"

Caroline smiled slowly. "You don't know?"

"You really remind me of Klaus when you do that." Eva shuddered theatrically, before huffing. "Yes, I don't know. I want to know. And you will tell me!"

"Tell you what?" Kol's voice sounded, as he stepped into the pantry with them. "Oh, hello darling."

"Hi, Kol." Eva said distractedly.

"I was talking to Caroline." Kol teased, air leaving his lungs as Eva elbowed him in the gut.

"Thanks, fool."

"Well, I only save special hellos for you." Kol smirked, taking Eva's face in his large palms and pressing a sweet kiss to her lips before murmuring  _good morning_ onto them.

Eva looked smitten enough till she remembered that her friend was stuck in there with them. She glanced towards Caroline to find that she was standing with a silly grin on her face, munching on a Pop Tart.

"Oh, don't mind me."

"Sorry, Carolina. Now tell us what you know!"

"Caroline knows something?!" Kol exclaimed, sniggering as Caroline punched his arm.

"Do you want to know or not?"

"YE-s!" Eva cried, cutting the sound short as she realized who was in the kitchen.

"Well you'll find out soon enough." Caroline said smugly, ducking past the two and into the kitchen, laughing at Eva's grumbling the whole way.

"Anyone seen Bekah this morning?" Caroline asked to the kitchen in general.

"No." Elijah replied simply, not glancing up from the newspaper he was reading side by side with Gwen.

"I'd assumed she'd come and gone already." Kol said, walking out of the pantry with Eva and a box of cereal in tow.

"Well, I've been down here all morning with Gwen, and I haven't seen a single blonde hair of hers." Caroline said, a frown starting to mar her smooth face. It deepened when her eyes caught Klaus and his knowing look.

"Really? Do you just know  _everything_?" Caroline half exclaimed.

"Yes," Elijah, Kol and Eva replied in unison.

"I'd say yes too then, if that's the general consensus." Gwen added, glancing up quickly through her thick framed reading glasses before returning her eyes to the paper.

Caroline looked back at Klaus, who shrugged smugly.

"I'm the Alpha, love. Its my job to know."

"Then its also your job to tell me." Caroline said, folding her arms.

Klaus merely tilted his head consideringly. "Lets take a walk."

The two strolled past the cars parked in the Mikaelson driveway. Caroline noticed that Rebekahs was missing. Rather than turn around and head back into the house, Klaus continued walking down the street, and she had no choice but to follow him. She naturally did so regardless. But that didn't mean she didn't question it.

"Where are we going?'

"You'll see." Came the short, cryptic reply.

They walked in relative silence for a mile before Caroline guessed.

"Is Rebekah at Matts?"

"You'll see."

Caroline realized where they were going the second she remembered that she hadn't changed out of the henley and jeans combination she sported fashionably.

"No, I am not ready for this."

"You are, angel. You have to be." Klaus replied, his hand steadfast around her own.

"I'm not prepared to talk to my mom." Caroline said, but it came out more as a whine than a logical explanation.

Klaus just gave her a look, his feet not faltering as they climbed the steps to her door. They paused there. Klaus knew Caroline had to ring the bell. If she didn't he would escort her home and love her just as much and they'd leave this godforsaken one-pony town behind them. But she should do this. It would be good for her.

Caroline exhaled a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

_Please be at work, please be at work, please be at –_

The familiar face of Liz Forbes showed through the glass panes, and Caroline's heart jumped excitedly. She knew deep down just how much she missed her, how much she needed to see her mom. It certainly helped that Liz showed a rare smile at the sight of her daughter. However, Klaus' presence next to Caroline had Liz faltering and shooting a questioning expression at both of them. Nevertheless, she opened the door.

"Mom!" Caroline cried, letting go of Klaus hand for a second and wrapping her arms around Liz carefully but enthusiastically.

"Caroline," Liz smiled, and Klaus made a mental note to tell Caroline of just how happy the woman had looked at that moment, when she couldn't see the expression of joy on her moms face. He felt a slight pang of hurt at how her mother clearly cared for her, but he put it aside when he saw just how happy Caroline was too.

"Come in," Liz said, motioning Caroline inside. Her eyes glanced uncertainly at Klaus, and Caroline nodded helpfully. "You too," Liz added.

From thereon in, Caroline knew it was going to be wonderfully awkward.

They chatted about where she had been and what she had seen, skimming over who she had left with.

"I caught up with Tyler in Paris." Caroline admitted, searching her moms face for any signs.

"How was he?"

"He was good." Caroline smiled. "Is he back in Mystic Falls?"

"No." Liz said, a stony look passing over her face.

"Its not my fault he didn't come back." Caroline started, and Liz cut her off with a simple gesture, her hand covering her daughters.

"I know, honey. He's not here anymore because he returned and left."

"Why?"

Liz furrowed her brow, and sighed. "We don't need to talk about it."

The question of what they did need to talk about hovered in the air between them, and Liz's gaze moved towards the back of Klaus' head visible through the window as he sat out on the porch swing. He had excused himself a while back so the women could catch up properly without him hovering, and Caroline had been thankful for it, but the small space between them was enough to make her miss him. It was absurd how she had attached herself to him, but there was no going back now, because she loved how he affected her.

"So, Klaus?" Liz asked quietly, and Caroline knew that he could still hear them despite their low volume, but her voice became just as hushed to put her mom at ease.

"Yeah. Klaus."

Liz frowned. "You're together?"

"Yeah, mom." Caroline frowned too, daring her mother to question her choice.

Liz sighed through her nose. "He's dangerous, Caroline."

"And I'm not?" She retorted, reminding Liz of what she had first thought of her daughters new vampire ways.

"Well, at least I know you're safe." Liz said consolingly.

"And happy, mom." Caroline added. "I'm happy."

Liz looked at her daughter searchingly, before nodding and moving on to other topics.

When Caroline left, Liz walked her out to the porch and said pleasant goodbyes as if everything were normal. It wasn't until Klaus had wordlessly taken Caroline's hand as they walked down the garden path together that Liz said one more thing.

"Honey?" She called, and Caroline paused and looked back at her mom on the porch steps of the place she had grown up.

"Yeah, mom?"

"I know. I could tell," Liz said sincerely. "That you were happy. I knew. I know."

It was the best thing she could have said, and though it was simple, it brought a lump to Caroline's throat.

"I love you, Mom."

"Love you too, Caroline. I'll see you soon." Liz Forbes said, smiling shortly to Klaus as well before retreating back inside the house.

Klaus and Caroline walked wordlessly till Klaus could tell that her mind was light and not plagued by whatever had passed between mother and daughter moments before.

"Well, that wasn't a train wreck now, was it sweetheart?" Klaus said.

"The worst isn't over." Caroline said. "I know the path your taking me on. We're going to the Salvatores, aren't we?"

Klaus glanced sideways at her. "You have to do it sometime."

"As do you." Caroline reminded him. "I hope you're prepared for a fight."

"I always am."

The streets were quiet due to the early morning, and Caroline was happy that she wasn't bumping into anyone she knew. She would've been a town scandal for anyone still human in Mystic Falls – running off and not finishing her senior year, when she was Miss Mystic Falls and cheercaptain and head of pretty much every social committee. Not to mention that since Tyler hadn't been around much either, it would've looked like she had run off with her boyfriend.

Well, she kinda did. But not. The idea of Klaus being her boyfriend was just…unthinkable. Klaus would never be a boyfriend. Lover, certainly. Partner, sure. _Boyfriend_ , no.

"Care?"

A familiar voice brought her out of her bubble, and she saw Matt sitting on a park bench nearby.

"Matt!" Caroline beamed, starting forward but remembering whose hand she was holding onto.

"Hey! What're you doing here?" He asked, looking quickly at Klaus. She realized people would be doing that a lot for this trip.

"Just seeing everyone, checking how you all are."

"We're good. Things are certainly different here." Matt said, a serious look passing across his face.

"Hopefully still good though." Caroline nodded, smiling when Matt seemed to agree.

They stood in silence for a beat before Caroline cut to the chase.

"I know I didn't exactly tell you when I called, but I'm sure Rebekah's filled you in on some things…"

"That you and Klaus are together, yeah, she did mention." Matt said, frowning. Klaus' hand tightened on Caroline's, not out of fear, but as a sign that if they didn't wrap up he was going to do something akin to his older days.

"Where is Rebekah?" She asked as a distraction.

"No idea, Care. She and I…it's a bit weird between us." Matts frown deepened, and Caroline realized that his main concern was Rebekah, not any angst for her relationship with Klaus. Being the human of the group hadn't got him too close to Klaus, and she thought it best to keep it that way.

"So you haven't seen her today?"

"No, why would I hav – "

"Hey, Matt!" A female voice rang out, and Caroline spun around to see a short brunette walking towards them.

"Hi April." Matt greeted, and Caroline turned back to see that a proper smile had spread across his face, an expression he had only seen him use around Elena and Rebekah.

"Well, we'd better get going." Caroline said before she could be introduced to the dark haired girl. She looked familiar, but it was better that she didn't acquaint herself with anyone and leave anything other than her family and old friends behind her when she left this town. She took a chance and hugged Matt gently. "It was great seeing you."

"You too. And Care?"

"Mmm?"

"Stay happy. And safe." Matt said honestly, and she gave him one more sunny smile before walking down the street hand in hand with the most dangerous creature on Earth.

"I still don't particularly care for him." Klaus said when they were far enough away.

"That's only because you're jealous." Caroline frowned at him, and he shrugged.

"That may be true, but I still don't care for him in regards to my sister either."

"I can't believe she wasn't with him." Caroline said. "But then who is she with?"

Klaus smirked. "You'll see."

"Stop saying that!"

They rang the doorbell to the Salvatore boarding house, and waited for what was to come.

What Caroline did not expect was for Rebekah to open the door.

"Bollocks." The Original Blonde exclaimed.

" _Beks?!_ " Caroline shook her head. "What are you doing here? And please don't tell me its Damon."

"Its not." Rebekah replied quickly.

"It isn't the elder Salvatore." Klaus said knowingly, and Rebekah glared at him, but Caroline didn't pick up on the hint, too preoccupied with her emotions as Elena opened the door wider behind Rebekah.

"Elena!"

"Care!" Elena was smiling until she saw the person standing next to her best friend. She faltered, but still dodged past the Original Blonde, enveloped Caroline in her thin arms and squeezed her tightly. Caroline sighed into her embrace for a moment before pulling back slightly and shaking her by the shoulders.

"You couldn't have told me you were a  _vampire_?!"

"I didn't want you to worry too much and come back early." Elena said feebly, smiling when she saw that Caroline was taking it less seriously than she had thought. "You had your own drama to deal with."

"Well its done now." Caroline said, and Elena could tell by the sunny smile on her face that whatever she had dealt with had given her a good hand.

"Are L words welcome here now?" Elena asked drawing the girl back into the Salvatore house and past the Originals while referring back to their phone conversation where she had liberally thrown the love word at Caroline who had instantly shied away from it.

Caroline glanced back to the Mikaelson siblings, who had locked into a staring match while chatting lowly. They were distracted enough for her to have some quick girl talk with Elena.

"L words are welcome here. L words are said a fair bit daily by two people." Caroline admitted, cryptic for a change rather than letting every person and his dog know that she was infatuated with a new guy.

"That's…that's…"

Caroline started to worry about Elena's reaction.

"That's wonderful, Care. He really feels something for you, something different to anything before."

Caroline hugged her best friend, pulling back to see her face. "You really mean that?"

"I'm not that oblivious, Care." Elena laughed. "You're ten times happier than you've been with any guy I've seen you with. And your happiness matters to me."

"Thank you." Caroline breathed, crushing Elena to her. "Now, tell me whats going on with you. I'm guessing you're here with Stefan?"

Elena blinked her doe-like eyes. "Well, see…"

"See, she's actually here for me." Damon's arrogant voice sounded, and he interrupted the girls moment as he strode down the corridor to meet them.

"Yeah right, Damon." Caroline scoffed, rolling her eyes, but stopping when she looked at Elena's face. "Seriously?"

"Its true." Elena said.

"But what about Stefan?"

"I'm right here, Barbie." Damon frowned, and Caroline glared at him.

"I'll get to you in a second. She dated your  _brother_  for crying out loud, it's a bit more of an issue than just 'oh, now I'm with the other Salvatore'."

"Forget about those issues, we've got a bigger one." Damon groaned, spying Klaus at the door with Rebekah. "What do you want?"

Caroline looked at Elena. "You didn't tell him?"

"No." Elena replied. "I thought you'd have enough to handle without him being on your case."

"You don't know, mate?" Klaus called, a gleeful expression on his face at just the mere thought of riling up Damon.

"Don't know that your sister is sleeping with my brother? Yeah, I know all about that." Damon shot back, not happy at being in the dark about why Klaus was at his house.

"Wait,  _what?_ " Caroline exclaimed.

"Forget about that, tell him why my brother is here." Rebekah dodged, not liking the glare Caroline was throwing her way.

"I'm not going to do that till you tell me when you slept with Stefan!" Caroline said, not knowing whether to be more hurt by Rebekah or Elena keeping that information from her when she considered them both her friends.

"Probably around the same time that you slept with my brother!" Rebekah retorted, not happy at being the only one targeted.

"You slept with Klaus?!" Damon exclaimed.

"Correction:  _sleeping_." Rebekah added, not realizing just how dangerous the situation was becoming for Caroline.

"You're together?" Damon continued, and Caroline sighed and turned back to him.

"Yes. I'm with Klaus. Deal with it, Damon."

"I'm not just going to 'deal with it', Blondie." Damon said, his anger and volume rising. Caroline easily stood her ground.

"I'm not going to apologize for being with him. Or feel guilty for the dirty thoughts I have about him."

"Urgh,  _please_ , shut up." Damon said, eyes shut tightly before blazing open. "He is the bad guy. He's been killing everyone. Get it into your thick skull."

"Damon!" Elena cried, trying to rein him in with a reminder and defend her friend, but he spoke over her soothing tones, concentrating on the blonde girl he had once terrorized.

"You saw what he did to everyone, Caroline. You know he is evil, you moronic bitch."

"That's no way to treat a lady." Klaus snarled, suddenly pinning Damon to the carpet. "Especially when she's  _my girl_."

Damon growled at the hybrid, and tussled against him, but everyone knew it was hopeless.

"Don't hurt him." Elena pleaded, but Klaus ignored her, sinking his teeth into Damon's neck.

Caroline held Elena back as she went to help Damon, and the brunette turned in her arms, ready to fight her as well, but Caroline's grip was like a vice.

"He'll just hurt you too." She looked squarely into Elena's eyes. "Don't worry. Back down. Trust me."

The girl calmed down slightly, and Caroline left her to place a hand on Klaus shoulder as he pinned Damon down, his blood across the hybrids lips.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't tear out his heart right now." He growled, his voice eerily level despite the animalistic snarl underlying every word. "He's had plenty of free chances at life, and cheated death countless times, and yet he still hasn't learnt his place."

"He's my friend, Nik." Caroline said calmly, surprising both of the men who looked at her questioningly. "Let him go."

Klaus glared at Damon before standing up, leaving him panting and clutching at his neck.

"Give him your blood." Rebekah reminded him.

"He can suffer through a little bite." Klaus said darkly, wiping the blood off his face.

"Nik," Caroline said reproachfully, and Klaus merely raised his eyebrows at her. She was reminded that this was the man who needed to show how strong he was in public, how he had to keep up the appearance of being the king of them all. He could serve her in his heart, and he had every side of his personality to show her, and he could leave every sweet, tender thought to her, but he had a reputation to uphold in public, and she could accept that or leave. So she nodded slightly, understandingly, and helped Elena support Damon over to one of the armchairs.

The eldest Salvatore sank into the leather seat with a groan, and while Elena soothed him and glared at Klaus, Caroline couldn't sympathize. Damon was a dick. He shouldn't have said those things. And he was hypocritical.

But then again, so was she. She believed that Elena should be with Stefan because Damon was 'bad', and yet she was with Klaus despite his evil nature too. But she couldn't imagine the young Salvatore without Elena.

As that last thought entered her brain, Stefan descended the stairs and found the madness that had just occurred.

"What did I miss?" He asked, frowning at the scene till he recognised some of the occupants that weren't necessarily meant to be there. "Klaus?"

"Ahem?" Caroline cleared her throat, smiling when Stefan's eyes finally found her.

"Caroline!"

The girl laughed as she found herself swept up and off her feet into Stefan's embrace, surprised by his happy outburst despite his usually stoic façade.

"Where's the serious face, Stefan? Isn't it Tuesday?" She teased, giggling as he attempted to slot the face she had previously called his 'serious vampire look' onto his face…and failing.

"It's a little hard to be serious when you've actually shown up. We've missed you."

"Should I feel neglected, Stefan?" Klaus asked, and Caroline looked over to the Mikaelson's to see their matching expressions bordering on...jealousy? She almost laughed; there was no need for that. Stefan and her were close, but after all of the drama, Caroline had stopped planning 'their June wedding' long ago.

"We've missed you too, Klaus." Stefan said sarcastically.

"Come off it, you said the other day that you wondered how it would've been if Klaus hadn't disappeared." Rebekah reminded him, and Caroline watched Stefan's expression soften as his eyes latched onto her face.

"That remind me, you've got some explaining to do, Stefan." Caroline folded her arms and gave him a serious glare. To his credit, Stefan met it with his own serious look for a moment before caving in.

"Explain what, Care?"

"What the hell has been going on in this madhouse!" Caroline exclaimed. "Klaus seemed to know everything but didn't tell me a thing, and Rebekah apparently didn't tell me everything either, so would someone explain what's  _actually_  happened?"

Klaus made a slight move as if he would have moved over to her if it hadn't been for the Mystic Falls crew in the room, and she understood that he had to not look like he would do anything for her, or they might exploit that power against him. It was upsetting, but sadly the thought had some validity, and so instead Caroline went to him, sitting next to him on the couch he claimed like a king, not touching him, but being comforted and soothed by his proximity.

"Well?" Caroline prompted to the trio – the girl and her two lovers caught in the eternal battle – and they looked at each other before Stefan inhaled slowly.

"What do you want to know?"

"Start at the beginning."

"I died." Elena said frankly, and Caroline was happy to see that she had come to terms with it, despite feeling guilty for not being there to help her friend through the tough time. "And I had Damon's blood in my system, so I started to transition. Only trouble was, someone wanted to kill me. Again. You remember Pastor Young?"

"Yeah, he had a few troubles, but he was always really nice." Caroline said, frowning.

"Well turns out, he knew about vampires, and tried to kill us all."

"Just your typical day in Mystic Falls." Damon said, pouring himself a glass of bourbon and blood from the decanter, wincing at every movement to his neck.

"When he failed to kill us, and we still were able to get Elena to transition into being a vampire, he blew up his house while he and the council were meeting." Stefan explained.

"He  _killed_  the council?" Caroline said in disbelief. "All of them?"

Elena's face betrayed that there was something she wasn't telling. Caroline frowned, and Elena shook her head.

"We'll get to that."

"Anyway, another vampire hunter came to town after, snooping around, and tried to kill us all…again." Damon said, clearly bitter over whatever fights he had with the hunter. "Turns out he had a very interesting past that Rebekah was able to clear up for us."

"He was one of the Five." Klaus said slowly, tilting his head. "Interesting."

"The Five?" Caroline questioned.  
"Original vampire hunters." Klaus explained. "I thought I killed them all off years ago, and bore the curse that came with killing them for half a century, but clearly the brotherhood of the Five lived on."

"Curse?"

"I found out when I killed him." Elena said with a stony face, and Caroline turned her empathic eyes towards her friend.

"What was it?"

"You don't need to know, love." Klaus said quickly, but Damon still explained it to her.

"Hallucinations. Its basically one big guilt trip of people you believe are telling you to kill yourself."

Caroline turned back to Klaus, who was looking at Damon murderously again. "Really? And you lived with that for fifty years?"

"It took him at least half a decade to tell us what was happening to him." Rebekah filled in helpfully.

"Thank you, Rebekah." Klaus said lowly, and Stefan frowned, prepared to jump in and help, but Rebekah merely shrugged.

"How did it stop?" Caroline asked.

"One day it just stopped." Klaus said. "I thought my mind had overcome it, but clearly I didn't jump to whatever neat little conclusion you did." He said to Elena.

"We found out that it has to pass on to a potential hunter, and then once they've killed a vampire, the hallucinations leave you alone." Elena said.

"So who was it passed on to?' Caroline glanced between them.

"Jeremy." Stefan said finally.

"No," Caroline breathed.

"Yep. Baby Gilbert himself." Damon said, taking a mouthful of his drink with a sigh. "He started bulking up, too."

"The hunters curse got to him a little bit, and we had to train him how to not kill every vampire he saw – namely us." Stefan said. "And then Rebekah revealed another part of the curse: a tattoo that grew across Jeremy's body with every kill that became a map."

"A map to what?" Caroline asked, full to brim with questions and impatient with how they were rambling on.

"A map to a cure. A cure for vampirism." Rebekah said, and Klaus watched Caroline's reaction with interest.

"Well that's new." She exclaimed.

"Would you take it?" Klaus asked.

Caroline sighed. "I'd like to say yes, but really…I like being strong, ageless, fearless. If I can live this life right, then why would I want to turn into what I used to be?"

Klaus hid his smile.

"Well we naturally wanted to find the cure for Elena." Damon said simply.

"And why is that, Damon?" Rebekah asked smugly, and Caroline waited for the bomb to drop.

"Because I wasn't meant to be a vampire, except someone had to throw me off a bridge." Elena said pointedly to Rebekah.

" _You_ were the reason she drove off the bridge?" Caroline frowned, and Rebekah looked guilty for a second before shrugging.

"I don't see her complaining now, do you?"

"I'm not. I like being a vampire. I think." Elena said slowly.

"It might also have something to do with someone telling her that it made them 'happy' for her to be a vampire." Stefan said bitterly, causing Damon and Elena to shoot a look at him that Caroline couldn't decipher.

Klaus stifled a chuckle next to her that grabbed her attention.

"What?"

"Nothing, love. Its just peculiar, don't you think, that Elena's behavior would change after becoming a vampire?" Klaus watched Caroline, waiting for her to pick up on what he had instantly realized.

"Becoming a vampire heightens who you are, it doesn't change behavior." Caroline recited from learning about her own transition into vampirism.

"Unless...?"

"Unless…" Caroline gasped, and Klaus looked pleased that she had figured it out. "Elena's sired to Damon?"

"It took us a little longer to realize that, thanks Klaus." Stefan said.

Caroline was too busy frowning at Damon. "She's  _sired_  to you."

"Hey, I'm not the evil one here, Blondie." He snapped, but it was ruined by the wince he gave. "Any chance we can heal this bite?"

"Not after you said that." Klaus said darkly. "You can wait a little while longer."

"To be fair, Damon used the sire bond for good." Stefan said, defending his brother in a rare moment, and Caroline frowned. What had happened between them to make them act so civilly? Was it merely that Stefan was getting some action with Rebekah?

"Anyway, with that happening, we had to find the cure to see if it would change anything." Elena got back on track, seeing how impatient Caroline was to know everything that had happened. "Bonnie got in touch with someone who knew about a different form of magic called expression. "

"Interesting." Klaus mused, clarifying the word before Caroline could ask. "Expression is seen as magic that isn't even related to nature, that's considered even darker than dark magic. Not many witches will go near it, it is completely shut off from everything they believe in."

"Anyhow, sometime on that island, we found out that not only was Shane working to bring Silas – a vampire imprisoned with the cure – back to life, but that Katherine showed up and nearly killed Jeremy to get the cure."

"Is he okay?"

"Bonnie cast a spell to make sure he wouldn't lose blood past a certain level. He's fine." Elena said, smiling with Caroline at the mention of both her brother and their friend still being alive.

"So is this Silas alive?" Klaus questioned.

"Barely." Stefan replied. "He came close to killing Jeremy to get blood back in his system, and while that gave enough of a distraction for him to drop the cure and let Katherine have it, it wasn't enough to mobilize him fully."

"Well that's one less worry then." Caroline sighed.

"Now the bad." Elena said slowly. "Care…Carol Lockwood's dead."

Caroline's face fell. "What?"

"She was with the Council when Pastor Young blew up his house."

"Tyler didn't say…"

"Tyler didn't know." Elena said. "That is, until he came back."

"He's run off with Hayley." Stefan added.

"The little bitch." Damon hissed, continuing after Caroline's questioning frown. "She was working in cahoots with Katherine and Shane the whole time. She knew about the sacrifice, about everything, and she played us all. That's why she went with Tyler, to get Klaus back so he could gather his little hybrid army together for her to slaughter."

"But she didn't…?" Caroline trailed off at their expressions.

"She did." Stefan said quietly.

"She did what?" Klaus said just as quietly, but the mere tone of his voice set a chill to everyone's bones.

"She got your hybrids together and unsired them before setting them against each other." Rebekah said softly when no one else dared to explain to him. "Their rage got the better of them while they fought to be alpha of the pack. Violence is in their nature. I'm sorry, Nik."

He inhaled, and everyone tensed, then exhaled, only making them all more nervous.

"There were twelve of them left. That's the number needed for the spell. I should have put them under more protection." He muttered, more for his own benefit than anyone else's. He glanced up at the Salvatores expectant faces. "Well, is there any other bloodshed you need to report?"

"Nothing else." Stefan said, sharing his surprise with Damon at Klaus' lack of violent rage at the news of his last hybrids dying.

"Then tell me what the hell is going on with all this?" Caroline made up for Klaus' lack of response by waving her hand at the Salvatores and the two girls, a glare set on her face.

"Care…" Elena started, then sighed. "I don't even know how to start to explain that."

"I don't care. Explain." She was the balance to Klaus' calm, getting aggravated over the new relationships she saw before her.

"Why don't you explain what you're doing with Klaus?" Stefan retorted.

"I don't think you want to know what she's  _doing_  with my brother." Rebekah made a face.

"Things got complicated after I turned, and my feelings were heightened." Elena cut in before things got ugly again. "I didn't know what I felt. I still don't know what I feel."

"Elena, I love you, but if you don't stop saying that, I will break something." Caroline fumed.

"Like you can talk." Damon scoffed. "You're all shacked up with the worst man on Earth."

Klaus snarled, and Caroline placed a hand on his knee to prevent him from getting up and pummeling Damon.

"I think your mistaking my situation for yours with dear Elena." Klaus gritted. "Must be difficult for her to be so attracted to something so low."

'"I think its safe to say that we're all screwed up here." Rebekah noted, before Damon could say anything more to get his head ripped off.

"Agreed. So lets just leave that alone and talk about the bigger problem right now." Stefan said, the serious frown returning to his brow.

"What more could there be?" Caroline asked, wondering whether the world fell to pieces because Klaus hadn't been playing the villain to her friends shenanigans, or if it was just something about Mystic Falls that attracted trouble.

"Just because Silas isn't awake doesn't mean he's not trying to." Stefan clarified. "He's doing Klaus' favorite trick – using Shane's body to get to Bonnie."

"We've got to find her." Caroline said but Klaus shared a look with Stefan.

"No."

"What?"

"Much as I'm sure she cares for you, and her friends, I don't think she'll be willing to listen to us." Klaus explained.

"He's right." Stefan added. "She's trusted Shane the whole time. She was cut off from the spirits after she tried to help Elena and use dark magic, and when he taught her expression, it just made it easier for her to trust him completely."

"So then…we'll try and anticipate his next move?" Caroline suggested. "Do a little investigating and try to stop him before he does something."

"There's my girl." Klaus said softly ignoring the disgusted look Damon shot their way.

"We're forgetting something." Elena said before Damon could ruin the perfectly odd happy moment between her friend and the hybrid. She might not fully approve, but she wasn't about to stop Caroline from being happy. "Katherine has the cure."

"Do you still want it?" Caroline asked.

"It'd make life easier, but I don't know." Elena admitted. "I like what you said. Its different being a vampire."

"Who'd want to go back to being normal?" Damon asked. "Life sucks when you're ordinary. Being a vampire is what makes us not ordinary, and if we went back to being human, we'd be no one, nothing."

"Still, its nice to have the choice." Rebekah said with a hint of wistfulness.

"Anyway, we'd want to have control over it, not Katherine." Stefan brought them back to Elena's point. "Otherwise she'll probably use it against us."

"She only has one chance, she'd use it against Klaus." Damon said. "Not like I'd complain."

"Yeah, but you'd have to deal with me torturing you for the rest of your life." Caroline retorted, glaring daggers at Damon and smiling slightly when he skulled the rest of his drink to fight against the pain of Klaus' bite. Hey, she never proclaimed to be 100% good.

"So the cure would only change one person?" Klaus asked, ensuring he had enough information.

"Yes." Stefan said with a hint of disappointment. "We all thought we could be cured, but apparently there's only enough for one person to be cured."

"And Silas just sat there for however long with the cure, desiccating but not dying?" Caroline frowned. "Something doesn't add up."

"It's a really long story." Elena said.

"What do you think you've been telling them for the past hour?" Rebekah rolled her eyes.

"Let her finish, Beks." Caroline tutted.

"Beks?" Damon shook his head, and Caroline groaned.

"Get over it. What's the story, 'Lena?"

"Silas was turned into a vampire two thousand years ago by a witch who loved him, thinking that he loved her and they would be immortal together. But he loved another woman and intended to make her immortal once the spell was cast, rather than the witch. So she locked him up with the one thing that would kill him – the cure to vampirism. If he took the cure, he'd die, but that would land him in the afterlife that she had created for supernatural creatures. So he remained alive just to spite her."

"That's a really long time to be only half living just to avoid this witch." Caroline noted.

"You clearly don't know just how some witches can be." Klaus remarked, earning a smirk of approval from Damon before he realized what he was doing and glared at the Original instead.

"He hoped that he'd break free and find a way to break the spell that bound supernatural creatures to a different afterlife." Stefan picked up where Elena left off. "If he did that, he could die and be reunited with the woman he had planned to spend eternity with. But doing that would also release every single supernatural being who had been killed back to Earth. Alive."

"Well that's not too bad…" Caroline started, only trailing off as she realized just who might be back there. Esther, Mikael, werewolves like Jules, countless people who had died for a reason. If they all came back, and with a vengeance, then her loved ones and her would all be in serious trouble.

"Realizing just what might be at stake?" Damon asked with a smug face. "Think its 'not too bad' now? And what about the number of vampires, werewolves and witches that your evil boyfriend there has personally sent to that side."

"Not my boyfriend, that just doesn't sound right." Caroline frowned. "And how about the number of people  _you_  might've sent over, Damon? Shall we think of them?"

"Calm down, children." Rebekah scoffed.

"Agreed, enough, Damon." Elena nudged him, subtly motioning towards his neck to remind him that if he wanted to stop the pain, he had to behave decently.

"Well, my interest is piqued." Klaus said. "How do we stop him?"

"There have to be three massacres to complete the spell." Stefan said. "There were twelve council members killed in the explosion, and twelve hybrids who died when they were set against each other. We need to figure out where, when, and what the third will be."

"We also need to find Katherine so we can give Silas the cure and kill him once we find him." Elena added.

"Sounds like two separate plans." Caroline nodded.

"Agreed, Blondie. I'll take Elena and track down Katherine, if you idiots can stay here and somehow figure out the next sacrifice." Damon said, moving to get up and groaning. "Just give me some blood first."

"Its your house, Damon, you can get your own." Klaus smirked.

" _Your_  blood." Damon growled out.

"Say please," Klaus teased.

" _Please_." Damon ground out.

"Please….?" Klaus said, drawing out Damon's begging. He had forgotten how much fun he had toying with them all.

"Please give me your blood, you dick."

"Now, is that any way to talk to someone who could help you?" Klaus tsked, then frowned. "No, I'll help you. But only when you've talked to Caroline."

"That's really not necessary." Caroline said uncertainly.

"We both know that's a lie, love." Klaus said, rising from the couch and looking to the others in the room as a signal to leave. Elena, Stefan and Rebekah followed him out of the room. The door closed behind them and Caroline and Damon were left in silence.

"Going to apologize?" Caroline asked, breaking the quiet.

Damon didn't answer, his pride getting the better of him.

"How much does the bite hurt?" Caroline continued, recalling the burning pain of a werewolf bite out of sympathy.

"Like hell is burning in my neck."

"I remember." Caroline said quietly.

They could hear their voices outside the room, muffled, as Rebekah agreed to accompany Elena and Damon on their Katherine hunt and Stefan planned to take Klaus and Caroline to Shane's office to start their search.

"I didn't mean it, before." Damon said, as if it pained him to apologize, no matter how honest he was being in his apology. "I just think you're an idiot for being with someone as evil as Klaus."

"As opposed to you, who screwed around with my body and mind while you were being resident Bad Boy of Mystic Falls." Caroline reminded him, and was surprised to see Damon Salvatore wince.

"True. Can we just call it level and I'll try not to be such a dick?"

"Probably impossible for you." Caroline said. "But we'll see."

It was a start.

"What are we even looking for?" Caroline asked as she, Klaus and Stefan walked into Shanes abandoned office.

"Well if Shane really was working with Silas, chances are he was helping him plan his next move." Stefan said, glancing around and moving books.

"Where?" Caroline scoffed. "On his evil villain to-do list?" She thumbed through the books on a shelf in front of her. "Hijack a professors body, form massacres, pick up dry cleaning?"

"Actually, not to nit-pick, but we evil villains usually use minions to pick up our dry cleaning, that sort of thing" Klaus smirked, and Caroline rolled her eyes playfully at him while Stefan raised a brow.

"I'm not sure either of you really need to be here." Stefan said. "I mean, sure, if we have to go head to head with Silas, an Original hybrid who can't die might come in handy, and you certainly have picked up enough about folklore, Care, but if your both just going to flirt the whole time I don't think we'll get anywhere."

"Is that jealousy I detect in your voice, young Salvatore?" Klaus smirked. "You know we work well together. Or at least we did in the 20s."

"To be fair, my emotions were switched off." Stefan shot back.

Caroline ignored the two, looking along the rows of books, trying to find one that might give them a clue. Surely something that looked like Bonnie's grimoire could be it, or something else entirely, seeing as expression was something not natural to witches.

"Yes, you were quite dark, back in the day." Klaus noted.

"Nowhere near your darkness, though." Stefan said. "I've got no idea why Caroline got suckered in by that."

Caroline frowned at him. Stefan might be one of her best friends, but he had no right to be righteous about her relationships. Especially when he was both friends with Klaus himself decades ago and was going for try number two with Rebekah.

"Don't underestimate the power of darkness, Stefan." Klaus said securely. "Even the purest hearts are drawn to it." He glanced over to Caroline, and they smiled at each other before Caroline brought a book over to the two men.

"I think I found something." She thumbed through the old book. " _Symbolic Figures in the Dark Arts_." Caroline flipped to the pages marked 'Expression' and found a picture of a triangle.

"Bonnie mentioned an expression triangle." Stefan said, leaning over to look at the page. "'In some schools of magic such as expression, human sacrifice can be used as a focus for power. It's rumored that the addition of two supernatural sacrifices compounds the mystical energy, creating an expression triangle.'"

Caroline looked over the accompanying diagram. "Humans, the explosion." She pointed out the symbol. "Demons, Hayley's meddling." She added, her finger swirling around the mark.

"What's the third?" Klaus said, slightly irritated after hearing about all that the foolish werewolf girl had done.

"Oh no," Caroline breathed, looking up at them both. "Witches. The third is going to be witches. We've got to call Bonnie."

"No," Stefan replied simply. "No, we'd be better off figuring out where its going to be and stopping it there. Maybe we can get the witches to help us."

"If they aren't dead." Klaus said coldly.

Stefan shot him a look, pulling out his phone as it rang. "I should take this." Stefan walked towards the door. "Try to figure out where the next sacrifice will be, and no sex on the desk."

Caroline cheerfully flipped the bird at him as the door closed.

"Glad we came back now, sweetheart?" Klaus asked.

"Actually, yes." Caroline said. "If we hadn't I wouldn't know what was going on, and they could've all easily died. And like it or not, that would've affected you too."

"The only thing that would've affected me would have been whatever hell this Silas unleashed in his moronic scheme." Klaus said.

"Bullshit, Nik." Caroline said, the faint laugh in her voice taking the bite out of her crass words. "You'd miss them."

"That's beside the point, love." He said, focusing them back to the task on hand. "Where have the massacres occurred?"

"Get that map and I'll show you." She said, clearing the desk while Klaus retrieved the map of Mystic Falls.

"Pastor Youngs farm, where the explosion occurred, is here." She marked an x. "The Lockwood cellar, where Hayley set the hybrids against each other, is here." Caroline drew a line between the two points. "And I am sorry that it happened." She glanced up at Klaus across the desk.

He seemed to battle inwardly with himself, but he shrugged. "I barely knew them. You were right – I created them so I wouldn't be alone. But if I have you, and my family, then I'm not alone, am I?" He had a dark glint in his eye, and Caroline predicted his fear before he could voice it.

"I'm not leaving. You'll have me for eternity, if you'd like."

"Can I have you now?" He grinned wolfishly, leaning towards her. She smiled back, but shied away, glancing down to the map.

"We have a job to do."

"Several, if you count the challenge Stefan set with the desk."

"That wasn't a challenge, that was an order  _not_  to."

"Slight misunderstanding."

"Nik." Caroline raised her eyebrows, and he sighed.

"Very well."

"According to the book, the triangle is equilateral, so it should be…here." Caroline finished, marking off the spot so the triangle pointed towards Klaus.

"Somebody's been skipping their geometry classes." Klaus commented.

"Well gee, I wonder why." Caroline teased. "Couldn't have anything to do with the fact that I ran off with a crazy, sexy Original hybrid before I finished my senior year, could it?"

Klaus looked up at her from under his lashes, and the idea of accepting the thing Stefan had said about the desk as a challenge became very appealing. His fingers brushed against hers as he took the ruler and marker from her hands, and he drew out another point to the triangle that faced towards her.

"There are actually two places where the third massacre could be." He pointed out.

"Well, you didn't let me finish." Caroline retorted, looking up at him where they had both leaned over the desk.

"Are you still caught up about that, love?" Klaus smirked, referring to their phone call from Spain where he had brought her to the brink and not allowed her to go further without his presence.

"I could get you to finish now," Klaus murmured, caressing her cheek with gentle fingertips, admiring how the lamplight fell across her flawless features.

Caroline leaned into his touch, her mind racing ahead. The sound of the door opening behind her prevented her from doing anything rash, and she spun around to face Stefan as if she were guilty of the one thing he had told them not to do while he took the phone call.

"Really, Stefan? You couldn't have waited five more minutes?" Klaus said half joking but with a serious edge to his voice, not appreciating the cock-blocking Salvatore.

"And walked in on you two doing something? No thank you." Stefan said, but his serious expression didn't budge.

"What's going on?" Caroline asked quickly. "Was it Bonnie?"

"No, but that was her dad on the phone." He sighed. "I think they might've found Silas."

"Well we might've found where to look for twelve witches." Caroline said, brandishing the map with two triangles.

"Since there are two places, we'll have to split up. Care?" Stefan was clearly suggesting that she go with him, but Caroline couldn't understand why she would leave Klaus' side.

"I'll go with Klaus towards the south, if you go to the north."

"Fine." Stefan said, but gave Caroline a look that told her she would be having a long talk with him later. "We'll see who finds them first."

The pair set off towards the south. Klaus naturally started to do the male thing by reading the map and not letting Caroline see for herself, trusting the instinctive sense of direction that all men believed they were born with. They were wrong.

"C'mon, Nik, I just want to see where we are." Caroline pouted for the umpteenth time. "I read the maps all the way through from Istanbul to India, didn't I?"

"You know, when we split up, you did have the option of going with Stefan." Klaus pointed out, ignoring her request and reminder. "He certainly seemed to want for you to accompany him."

"Yeah, and have me leave you? Fat chance." Caroline said sweetly, before ruining the moment. "Do you even know how to read a map?"

"Yes, I do, love, and you have seen it countless times travelling."

"Well, you could've fooled me." Caroline huffed, only snappy because he wasn't letting her get her way.

"Maybe you should've gone with Stefan, he'd be more likely to give into your demands." Klaus remarked with more than a hint of bitterness.

"Are you jealous? Of Stefan?" Caroline threw up her hands with a little laugh. "I am not attracted to him. I love  _you_."

"Forgive me if it's a little hard to believe, sweetheart. I've seen how you are between two men competing for your attention, and I very nearly didn't succeed." Klaus said darkly.

"Is that what this is about? I'm only with you, Nik. No one else. I love you, and I'm never going to love anyone else." She sighed exasperatedly when she saw that her words weren't getting through to him. "Though lord only knows why I'm even attracted to you."

"That's right, love." Klaus scoffed. "Because you've never felt the attraction that comes when someone who is capable of doing terrible things for some reason cares only about you."

"I did. I do. You know I love you, Nik." Caroline said softly, slowly coming forward to caress his jaw with both of her hands. "I may not care only about you, but I love you more than anyone. I love you more than I can stand, more than I can bear. That should be reason enough for you to never feel jealous. Possessive, sure, protective, definitely, but never jealous."

Klaus rested his forehead against hers for a second before coming back to realty.

"We're here. Although judging by the lack of witches, here is not the correct location."

"Which means…" Caroline looked up at him with wide eyes before they both disappeared, sprinting off through the trees to get to Stefan's location.

They found him circling the chanting witches and flames, unable to get closer without bringing pain to himself.

"They're linked." Stefan explained. "And Bonnie's going to kill them."

"Not if the witches kill her first." Klaus said coldly, pinning Stefan to a tree when he moved towards the witches once more.

"Nik! We need to save her." Caroline said like it was a given, not accepting otherwise.

"How?" He queried. "The only way to stop the witches is to kill them, and then Silas gets what he wants." Klaus glanced sideways to see Caroline in the corner of his eye, not wanting to look at her head on to tell her that he couldn't give her something she wanted, no, needed. "I'm sorry, love."

"Spirits, take her soul. Free her from darkness!" The witch above Bonnie cried, and Bonnie, eyes unnaturally white and wide open, screamed in pain, as if her soul was being ripped from her body. It was the most chilling sound Caroline had ever had to hear, and she panicked. She couldn't let that happen to her friend. Without thought, Caroline sped towards the centre of the circle, grabbing hold of the witch with her dagger poised above Bonnie's chest.

"No!" Klaus shouted in warning, and Caroline knew he was right, she couldn't kill the witch.

But she could stop her in another way.

Caroline pushed the woman away, focusing on pinning Bonnie to the ground as she writhed, her white eyes luminous and filled with a warning. Caroline bit her wrist, forcing it over Bonnie's mouth and waiting for her to choke down a few mouthfuls before snapping her neck.

It was all over in a matter of seconds.

The bond was broken.

Not only between Bonnie and witchcraft, but between her and the spirits of nature, between her and her ancestors, between her and her life. Caroline had cut a bond that she felt deep in her own soul, empathic as she was, and she felt so cruel for it. But it was far better than having Bonnie die for good or killing the entire coven of witches.

"What've you done?" Stefan asked, knowing full well what she just did.

"She has saved her." The witch who Caroline had pushed away said from the edge of the circle. "And damned her."

"An avenging angel." Klaus breathed quietly.

The witches came out of their trances and started to talk amongst each other, frowning at the scene before them. The one who had been channeling them approached Caroline, who had curled with her arms around her knees next to her friend, waiting for her to wake up even though it would take hours.

"You did something very foolish, child." She said sternly. "But you did what you could. She is your friend, am I correct?"

"I couldn't let her die." Caroline said quietly. "I couldn't let you kill her."

"You have in other ways." She said seriously. "But she is free now. Silas won't be able to use her if he needed her for spells. A person cannot be a witch and a vampire." With that, the woman nodded, and the coven of witches walked off into the night.

Stefan approached the two girls slowly. "I'll take Bonnie back to her house so she can wake up peacefully." He said.

Caroline barely nodded her agreement, and Stefan glanced towards Klaus warily before lifting Bonnies lifeless form and blurring off into the woods.

Klaus lowered himself to the ground beside Caroline, waiting for her to say something.

"I just killed my best friend." She said in a small voice.

"You didn't kill her." Klaus reasoned.

"I may as well have." Caroline said, a tiny sob starting to work its way into her voice. "She's going to hate me."

"Better that you saved her rather than had her die. Or had Silas' triangle completed."

"She's never going to forgive me." Tears started to run down her face, and Klaus wiped them away swiftly with his thumbs, his hands caressing her face and waiting for more to drop.

"Hey, hey," He crooned, waiting for her to actually meet his eyes before continuing. "You did the best that you could do. I didn't even think of that option. I thought one dead body was better than twelve, well, you went one step further and ensured that there wouldn't be any dead bodies. It was the best one option. Your more than an angel, more than my guardian angel. You're the avenging angel. Fierce and bright and ethereal."

His words sunk their way into her being as usual, making her lighter.

"I love you."

"I love you."

Klaus kissed her sweetly, tasting the salt from her tears, kissing her till there was not a trace of sadness left on her face. She curled herself into his strong arms, knowing he'd protect her from anything.


	30. Bloody and Bruised (For You)

Stefan called hours later, telling them that Bonnie had woken up and had no memory of anything since they got to the island. Caroline slowly, guiltily, pulled herself up from the ground and Klaus' comforting embrace, knowing that she had to see her friend. Klaus was up and supporting her before she could even take a step.

"Thank you." She murmured. "You know, you're going to have to stop being so kind to me. I might get the wrong idea."

"Charmingly funny, love." Klaus returned with more than a hint of sarcasm.

"Really, though. You're meant to be the big scary hybrid monster."

"And you look like your in need of comfort," Klaus said simply. "And I only show compassion to those I care for."

"Then you're just my big bad monster, aren't you." Caroline said, her breath hitching after crying for so long.

"I plan to be that till eternity ceases. But only if you'll promise to never let anyone else know that I can be kind."

"Not allow anyone to see that you have a heart?" Caroline frowned, but sighed in compliance. "Only if I can keep your heart."

"I don't know how you ever thought otherwise, angel." Klaus shot a rare smile at her, one full of life and dimples and actual happiness. It certainly stayed imprinted on her brain till they reached Bonnie's house.

Jeremy was the one to open the door, and Caroline was surprised at how much Elena's kid brother had grown. Or rather bulked up.

"Care," His voice still had that same bright lilt to it, and she beamed at him in a quick moment of happiness, hugging him easily. Jeremy returned the hug, but it was careful, guarded. Caroline pulled back to realize that he was watching Klaus with a cautious eye.

"Hello, little Gilbert." Klaus greeted him with smooth tones, going back to his cold self so quickly, as if the last few hours comforting Caroline had been a dream. She would have believed it hadn't happened, were it not for the way he glanced at her, checking that she was still alright.

"I'm happy to see you, Care, but he's not welcome here." Jeremy said stiffly, much more authorative than either of them remembered him to be.

"Much as I'd rather be somewhere else, I am here, and you will let me in." Klaus said dryly, amused at how the teenager thought he had any power over him. "I've broken down your front door before, I can do the same to Miss Bennett's house also."

"You do that and I'll stake you." Jeremy threatened. "I've taken on worse than you."

"What, the little baby vampires that you had to kill to get your hunters mark?" Klaus scoffed. "Or Silas, who almost killed you?"

"Enough, both of you." Caroline said exasperatedly, not even bothering to ask Klaus how he had found out any of that information. He just knew everything, she had to get used to that. "Jer, can I see Bonnie?"

"She's in her room. She's waiting for you." Jeremy said with a tone in his voice that made Caroline feel as though Klaus was not the only unwelcome visitor to the house. It hurt her slightly that Jeremy, who she had played with as a kid and grown up with, could be so cold towards her, but she supposed he had a right to.

Caroline walked through the hall, easily finding her way to Bonnie's room. She'd been here countless times before, for sleepovers, for study sessions, for pre-dance underage drinks and boy sessions, crying over how Justin Fletcher didn't like her in the fifth grade, how her dad could pull guys better than she could when she was fourteen and still not accepting of her dads newfound happiness and way of life, how she would always be second best; to her dad who had in her young eyes abandoned her, to her mom who worked to forget her family, to the boys she chased after who always seemed to like Elena more.

How times changed.

She could barely remember those days now. The trivial times of high school were behind her. She had a new life, and she embraced the eternity she had before her. And she wasn't second best now. No, she was first choice. First choice to the most powerful creature they knew.

If that wasn't a compliment, she didn't know what was.

Bonnie's door was closed, and for the first time, Caroline wasn't on the other side of it confiding with her best friend. She bit her lip before sighing and knocking.

"Caroline?" Bonnie's voice sounded thin through the door, and she took it as an invitation to come inside. The blonde opened the door to see Bonnie lying on her bed, looking towards Caroline with a mixture of hurt and thanks. She didn't know which one she should be more affected by, but guilt naturally overtook her and she drew closer to the bed hesitantly.

"Bonnie." Caroline breathed, the tears coming to her eyes unbidden. "I'm so sorry."

"Stefan's talked me through everything." Bonnie said in a lifeless voice. "I don't think there's anything you have left to say."

"Then why did you want to see me?" Caroline asked quietly, trying to swallow back her tears. She hated what she had done, but she couldn't have thought of any other way around the problem.

"I don't know." Bonnie said hoarsely.

"Have you…completed the transition?" Caroline asked.

Bonnie shook her head, her eyes narrowed. "I don't want to. I don't want this."

"I know, but what else was I supposed to do, Bon?" Caroline cried. "They were going to kill you, or you were going to kill them. I had no choice."

"You could have let me die." Bonnie was ashen, but her voice was firm. "I don't remember any of the witches or Silas talking to me, or anything from before the island. But I never wanted this, Care. You could have let me die."

"I  _couldn't_." Caroline said fiercely, the tears coursing down her pale cheeks as she sat on the edge of the bed, her knees allowing her to collapse. "I  _can't_. We  _need_ you, Bon.  _I_  need you. I can't let you go. You're my  _best friend…_ "

Bonnie bit her lip, her eyes shining with unshed tears. She reached out and touched Caroline's hand comfortingly, and the blonde girl clasped it between her own, pleading.

"You have to complete the transition. Being a vampire's not that bad. You're fast, and strong, and nothing can hurt you…" Caroline thought of the benefits, wildly searching for them in her mind. "You're invincible. You can't get sick. You don't need to take hayfever tablets every morning, don't think that I've forgotten that you've had to do that for the last eight years."

Bonnie let out a small laugh, but her face remained unsmiling after the sound had dissolved into the still air.

Caroline reverted back to her serious self. "Its so free, Bon. Its freedom."

"No." Bonnie said bluntly. "Being a witch was freedom. It was to me, at least. It was natural." She sighed, the air wavering as she fought back tears. "I miss it, Care. I wasn't in touch with nature months ago. The spirits turned their back on me when I did what I did for you all. That was agony. And now I can't even touch them. They're not there. They've deserted me completely."

"I won't desert you. I'll do everything for you in return, Bon." Caroline swore. "I'll find the cure. And I'll give it to you. You'll be human again."

Bonnie blinked. "But Elena – "

"Elena doesn't want it. And you need it. And you've done so much for us. Its time someone did something for you." Caroline said fiercely. "We'll find the cure for you, Bonnie. I promise." She squeezed her friends hand lightly. "Just complete the transition, and I promise, I'll find the cure and I'll give it to you."

Bonnie eyed her warily. "Damon and Stefan aren't going to just let you have it. They're going to give it to Elena even if she doesn't want it."

"I've got Klaus and the Mikaelsons on my side." Caroline said boldly. "They definitely don't want to be human, and they don't want the cure just sitting there till someone uses it against them."

"You're sure that Klaus won't want to use it on Elena?" Bonnie asked. "If she's human, he'll be able to make more hybrids."

"He doesn't need them any more." Caroline said with certainty, though her friend's words planted a seed of doubt in her mind. "He's got me."

Bonnie looked at her with troubled eyes, and Caroline sighed.

"I know you don't like him, Bon. I know. But I do. And he makes me happy. And I'm past the point of caring if you guys like that and can accept that. If you don't, then it doesn't bother me."

"Really, Care?" Bonnie said skeptically. "You won't care even if he hurts you, or hurts us?"

"He won't hurt you. Or me." Caroline said.

"He's a monster, Caroline. He's evil. It doesn't matter if he's charmed you or made you believe otherwise, cause that's what he is. He killed – "

"I know who he's killed, Bonnie." Caroline snapped, before calming down. "I know who he is. He knows who I am. I love him, Bonnie." She said slowly, deliberately, watching her friends' reaction. "And he loves me."

"Then I can't stop you." Bonnie said, her voice tinged with sadness.

It wasn't acceptance, but it was enough for Caroline. She knew that her choice had consequences, but so long as she was able to save the tatters of a friendship rather than blowing it up to nothing, she would accept it.

"Thank you, Bon." Caroline said softly, kissing her friends knuckles before she stood again. "And I meant what I said. I'll get you the cure. Just complete the transition so I can give it to you."

Caroline returned to Klaus and Jeremy on the front porch, still in a stand-off.

"Where's Stefan?" She asked Jeremy.

"Out getting a blood bag for Bonnie," Jeremy said, his lip curling slightly in disgust. "Just in case she decided to complete the transition."

"I'm sorry, Jer." Caroline said sincerely. "It was the only option left without letting Bonnie die."

"Or would you have preferred the murder of twelve innocent witches?" Klaus snapped at the young hunter, and Jeremy frowned.

"I'd rather not have my girlfriend becoming a bloodsucker!" He exclaimed. "I'm not going to be able to be near her without wanting to stake her now."

"It's going to be all right, Jer, you'll see, I – " Caroline's soothing words were cut off as he whipped around to face her.

"You don't know that, Caroline. I want to stake all of you, right now. Even you. Especially you. You turned your backs on all of us when you went off with him." He gestured to Klaus, who stood ready and waiting like a panther about to strike.

"If anything, she saved your miserable lives." Klaus retorted, and Caroline could see that under his cold expression he was worried…worried for her.

"She was my friend, but that was when she was human." Jeremy said, flexing his hands. Caroline tensed, suddenly realizing just how dangerous the situation had become.

"I wonder if I shouldn't just stake you now." Jeremy said in quiet tones that carried just as much anger as before.

"Easy, little Gilbert." Klaus said menacingly. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"But I would." Another voice sounded from nearby, and Caroline whirled around to find a dark haired man at the end of Bonnie's porch.

"Shane," Jeremy frowned. "But you're – "

"You're not thinking clearly, Jeremy." The man said with a dark smile, and the answer dawned on them.

"Silas, I presume." Klaus named the terror while he kept a cool façade.

"And you must be the hybrid." Shane – or rather, Silas – responded.

"I've been called worse," He smirked, playing along. "But you can call me Klaus."

"I don't find it in me to care." He said contemptuously. "Where is my cure?"

"Don't think I've got it mate." Klaus said, making a show of patting down his pockets.

"But you know who does." Silas said evenly, walking towards the three of them along the porch. Klaus, who had been standing on the front path at a respectable distance from Jeremy, matched Silas' pace, walking towards Caroline and the young hunter.

"The last thing you want is for that cure to be used on you, so bring it to me, and it wont be." Silas said as he paced, pausing only feet away from Caroline. Klaus still walked towards them on the porch, his gaze murderous as he eyed the space between Silas and Caroline, trying not to let his feeling show.

"I don't think so." Klaus scoffed. "I don't answer to threats. Especially from men who are too cowardly to show their true face. You know, you don't scare me, Silas, or Shane, or whoever you are." He had nearly reached them, he was almost next to Jeremy, the same distance away from Caroline as Silas was.

Silas smiled coldly. "But I think I know what does."

Klaus tensed, but Silas didn't move towards them. Instead, he pulled out a stake from the inside of his jacket. And it wasn't just any stake.

"Now where did you get that?" Klaus asked, tilting his head as he regarded the twisted white oak stake that he had sworn had been under lock and key in Italy.

Silas smirked. "Lets just say that your sisters' mind is a little easier to read than yours."

He made a sudden move that caught them all by surprise. Klaus grabbed for Caroline, but it was too late. Silas already had caught her by the arm and pulled her towards him. She tugged, but he was stronger than he seemed, far stronger than she was. He had two thousand years of strength behind him, regardless of the apparent human form he kept.

"Care to reconsider my offer?" He asked Klaus, tipping the stake towards Caroline.

"You could have chosen a victim who actually required that stake to be killed." Klaus scoffed, but his wide eyes showed his worry to Caroline.

"Even so, I still think I chose the right one. Like I said, I know your fears." Silas said. "So, what's your answer?"

Klaus tilted his head consideringly, then ran past Jeremy and towards Silas at vampire speed. The hand that held the stake came down, but Klaus was there to receive the blow, placing his body between Silas and Caroline. The piece of white oak embedded itself between his shoulder blades, and he cried out in pain, but his eyes held relief. Caroline was there, before him, and safe. It was enough.

"I missed by an inch, but oh well." Silas murmured in Klaus' ear. A snapping sound reverberated in the stunned silence, and Caroline realized that he had broken the stake, leaving the tip stuck in Klaus' back. "Just a little something to remember me by." Silas smirked. Jeremy started towards him, stake in hand, but Silas vanished right before their eyes. Klaus collapsed against Caroline, gasping.

"Get it out." He gritted, and she supported him from the front while her hand searched across his back, finding only smooth skin and a tear in his jacket.

"Its…its healed." She frowned. Caroline glanced over Klaus' shoulder to where Jeremy paced along the porch to ensure that Silas was no longer there. Jeremy glanced at Klaus' back, and nodded in confirmation to Caroline. There was a sign that something had pierced through Klaus' jacket, but there wasn't any sign of a stake left in his back.

"I can feel it, Caroline. Its there." He growled harshly in her ear.

"If you think I'm not worried about it, then your wrong." Caroline snapped back at him just as fiercely, before she softened. "You idiot, you had to save me again."

Klaus opened his mouth to respond, then thought the better of it, glancing across to Jeremy. "I think we've overstayed our welcome."

"Call if Silas appears again." Caroline told Jeremy.

"I don't think he will. He's after you, now." Jeremy said, looking down at the stake in his hand before tucking it back into his belt, a sort of peace offering, wordlessly telling them that he wasn't accepting them, but he wouldn't try to kill them. "I'll tell you if anything happens. Bonnie will be safe with me."

"Thank you." Caroline nodded. "She loves you, you know."

Jeremy smiled slightly. "I know."

"Much as I appreciate this mindless chit-chat, I have a piece of white oak in my back and I'd rather it not be there." Klaus snarled, and it was enough for Caroline to nod once more to Jeremy and leave with the Original Hybrid in tow.

…

"I swear, there's nothing in here." Caroline huffed, pair of bloody pliers in hand as she poked around in Klaus' back. He braced himself against the beautiful old piano in one of the many rooms of the Mikaelson mansion, holding back his pain through gritted teeth.

"And if you think I'm enjoying this, you're insane." She added. Caroline didn't like any of this mess, especially when it caused him pain. Particularly when she couldn't even find the white oak stake, and it wasn't an easy thing to misplace in a mans body. She could've sworn that Silas had broken the stake and left it in Klaus' back, but it wasn't there.

"You ripped out a mans heart because you thought he was going to attack me, but you can't get your hands a little dirty with my own blood." Klaus growled, his skin pale and covered in a cold layer of sweat. Whatever Caroline thought, it was clear that the white oak was hurting him to a point of pain that he hadn't experienced for centuries.

"Well I'm trying." Caroline countered, frowning at the sound of the pliers in Klaus' back. He snarled and thumped his fist against the top of the piano, cracks scurrying from under his hand, creating a thin spider web on the surface of the mahogany piano lid.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry." She murmured, placing kisses against his clammy shoulder.

"What on Earth is going on?" Elijah's voice sounded as his dress shoes clacked across the polished floor. "Niklaus, Caroline. What happened?"

Caroline turned to see a crease in Elijah's smooth brow. She realized how crazy the scene must be; with herself pliers-deep in Klaus' back and he, drenched in sweat and clearly in pain, his shirt off as he allowed Caroline to keep a wound open on his back.

"Long story short, Silas, a two-thousand year old cretin, attacked us, and stabbed me with the white oak stake. A piece of it is still inside me. Caroline can't dig it out." Klaus said with a hint of malice.

"Because its not there." Caroline retorted sharply.

"That could kill you, brother." Elijah said in troubled tones.

"Well, I certainly feel like I'm dying." Klaus scoffed. "Or do I look like this every day?" His eyes were wide, his hair starting to slick into dark curls from the sheen of sweat across his body. Every muscle was tensed as if it was trying to physically push the wooden shards from his body, and he occasionally twitched in pain.

Caroline sighed, waving Elijah over to inspect Klaus' wound himself. "Nothing. You see?"

Elijah was able to see his brothers back for two seconds before Klaus shot out to the other side of the room.

"Nik," Caroline sighed.

"No," Klaus countered.

"Klaus," Caroline admonished.

" _No_." Klaus responded.

"No what?" Eva asked, strolling in and pausing when she saw the trio, concentrating mainly on Klaus. "What happened to  _you_?"

"None of your business." Klaus hissed, clawing at his own back.

"Klaus, stop that." Caroline tapped his hands away. "If you want, I'll try to find it again."

"Find what?" Eva asked.

"Nothing that concerns you, Eva." Elijah said as politely and coolly as he could. Caroline understood that the white oak stake weakness of the Mikaelson family was secret for a reason – if everyone knew that secret, then it would be an easy target painted on all their backs. As it was, Klaus' was now suffering because of that target. Eva, close as she may be, wasn't close enough yet to know that the family wasn't as invincible as they seemed. And true, Caroline knew mainly due to the digging she and her friends had done, but she realized now that it meant something to hold that information.

Regardless, she kept her mouth shut, even as Eva's questioning gaze turned to her. But she couldn't do it for long. So she abridged it.

"Klaus has part of a wooden stake stuck in him."

"Wood can't kill an Original." Eva recited as if she had learnt it in school.

"It can still get lodged in him." Caroline countered, pliers back in Klaus' back and wincing with every flinch he made.

"Then take it out." Eva said simply.

"What do you think she is doing?" Klaus said slowly, as if talking to a simpleton. Eva bristled, but knew better than to retort. Caroline marveled at how oblivious she and her friends had been to the courtesies that wiser vampires paid the Mikaelsons. The baby vampire would easily snap and sass with the family, whereas Eva – who had just as much attitude as Caroline – would often bite her tongue. Eva knew her place, and she had probably learnt it, maybe even learnt it the hard way.

"I can't find anything, love." Caroline said quietly to Klaus, and he merely snarled and snapped at her like a caged wild animal.

"It can't be that hard to find a chunk of wood." Eva said. "Here, I was a nurse for a few decades here and there over the centuries, let me take a look." She started to walk over, and Klaus was instantly on the far side of the room, crashing into the mantelpiece in his haste to get away.

"Are we destroying the mansion now?" Kol asked as he strode into the room. "Good. I've always wanted to burn it down. Its been too long since we did anything…reckless…" He caught sight of Klaus and frowned.

"If you ask what happened to me, I'm going to rip your bloody entrails out and feed them to you like sausage links." Klaus threatened.

"No need to tell me twice." Kol said, before turning to Eva and Caroline. "But seriously, what happened?"

"Silas." Caroline explained quickly, watching Kol's face darken.

"I told you so."

"Shut it." Elijah snapped, knowing that being right about anything would go to Kol's head instantly.

"Eli?" Gwen's boots clacked through the hall before she turned the corner into the room, and Klaus groaned.

"Are we going to call the entire town to come and see this spectacle?"

"What's going on?" Gwen frowned.

"Nothing." Klaus snarled, while Elijah was already explaining the situation.

"My brother has a broken piece of a wooden stake in his back, and its giving him grief."

"If there's a wood shard in his back, I could help. It's a simple enough s – "

" _No_. No help, none of you, all of you,  _out!"_  Klaus roared, making the girls jump. Kol and Elijah, who were more accustomed to outbursts from their brother, started to herd them all towards the door.

"Nik – " Caroline started, and for the first time, he turned away from her.

"All of you, out." He repeated ominously.

Caroline went through the stages fast: surprise, anger, guilt, doubt, begrudging acceptance. She too joined the mismatched family as they went out to the hall and closed the door behind them.

"I am sorry you had to see our brother like that, Miss Forbes." Elijah said sincerely.

"It was going to happen sooner or later." Kol said.

"We couldn't be sure of that." Elijah countered.

"Its…its fine." Caroline said. "Anything else been happening around here? Any update from Rebekah?"

"I got an interesting call." Elijah started with an exhale. "From a Miss Katherine Pierce."

"Katerina?" Kol half exclaimed.

"Katherine." Elijah corrected. "She is no longer the girl we knew. She is her own creation. Her own monster." He shook his head once, shaking off the ghosts of his past. "She proposed in her usual way that I had a deal to make with her."

"Her usual way being the seductive siren call of the Petrova woman." Kol chuckled, frowning at Eva as she elbowed him. "What?"

Eva jerked her head towards Gwen, who started to frown.

"Should I be worried about this Katherine-Katerina-Kat person?"

Eva and Kol responded at the same time.

"No," Eva said soothingly.

"Yes." Kol nodded.

Gwen glanced between the two before turning to Caroline.

"You don't even need to ask that question. Elijah is a gentleman." The said gentleman nodded his thanks. "The two just have some ancient history."

"Which I would be happy to disclose to you, if you would care to know." Elijah said, gazing only at Gwen. She looked back at him in her slightly guarded way, and Caroline watched the guard come down only a moment after looking into his eyes.

"Of course I care." She said quietly, and they smiled like there was no one else in the room before they walked off arm in arm to find their own private space.

"Well that's that all settled." Eva laughed.

"So Elijah's going to go and deal with Katherine." Caroline said with a sigh. "Rebekah's on the case there as well, so what are you two going to do?"

"Nothing, hopefully." Eva sighed happily.

"Well, something. But nothing you're invited along to." Kol said cheekily. "Unless you re-think the idea of a ménage – "

"Fat chance. You're all for me." Eva grinned.

"And I get Klaus all to myself. Lucky me." Caroline said, not looking forward to any further rejection from the man she loved.

"He doesn't mean it, Carolina." Eva said, tugging on one of Caroline's curls. "He's just a grumpy old sod sometimes. But it doesn't mean he doesn't love you."

"Yeah, well…" Caroline trailed off with a shrug. "I don't know what to do. But I've got to take care of him. So can I ask for you two to check on my friend Bonnie?"

"Is this the charming Miss Bennett?" Kol perked up, and Eva was onto it in an instant.

"I'd be happy to check on this friend of yours, Carolina." She said smoothly, before turning to Kol and gathering his shirt around her fingers in a bunch. "But if you so much as take a breath in to flirt with her, you will be bound in chains on the table faster than you can say 'whoops'."

"Wow, chains." He said excitedly. "I'm sure there's a woman who sings a song nowadays that would agree with you."

" _Chains and whips excite me_ ," Eva hummed, and Caroline managed to laugh.

"Kol Mikaelson listens to Rihanna?"

"Welcome to the 21st Century." Kol said unabashedly, grinning as Eva began to pull him down the hall by his shirt – no doubt to do just as the song suggested.

"So wait, what do I do?" Caroline asked just before the two turned the corner.

"Just go back in there." Kol suggested.

"Fat chance." Caroline scoffed. "He was rude. I'm not going to go kiss ass."

"While that's a charming image…" Kol chuckled, trailing off.

"Perhaps go in there anyway." Eva finished for him. "He's hurt, and you should help him. But his temper is far worse than any king I've ever known in my time. He can't ask for help."

Caroline scoffed wordlessly, but stopped when she saw Kol nodding in the most serious manner he could.

"Good luck." Eva finished with a smile before Kol pulled her around the corner, her giggle echoing behind her as Caroline turned to face the door.

Klaus was by the mantelpiece, his shoulder slanted at a weird angle. Caroline realized with a lurch that he had somehow dislocated it so he could reach over his shoulder and claw at his own skin in an attempt to drag out the stake.

"Klaus," She said, aghast.

"No, go away, leave." He hissed at her, his eyes wild again.

"Let me," Caroline said as she motioned towards his wound, gritting her teeth against his words as she drew nearer.

Klaus snarled, keeping his distance. "I need more time, stop hounding me."

His odd words made her cock her head, but at his last words, she narrowed her eyes.

"I'm hounding  _you_?" Caroline said in a dangerous voice that made Klaus blink and regard her with a softer gaze that he reserved for her. "As I recall, you were the one who chased me around Mystic Falls, and then persuaded me to join you on a trip around the world. I gave up my family, my friends, my  _life_ , all to be with you, and somehow  _I'm_  the one hounding  _you_?"

"Caroline," He breathed, the weakest sound she had ever heard from him. "Is it really you?"

She crossed the room carefully till she was able to reach out and cup his face in her hands, stroking his cheeks softly with her thumbs.

"Who else would it be?"

Klaus' hands wound around her wrists, tightening slightly. "Silas,"

Caroline frowned. "It's me."

"Well, he may have looked like you, but he certainly never denied who he was." Klaus exhaled shakily, and Caroline couldn't tell if it was from pain or relief. His hand wove through her hair and he pressed his lips to her temple.

"You feel so cold." She murmured, and true to her word, his skin was clammy with cold beads of sweat.

"I can feel the splinters moving towards my heart." Klaus gritted.

Caroline extracted herself from his loving grasp to sit behind him and try and sort out the mess of his bloodied back. She carefully poked through the muscles with the pair of pliers once more, yet there still appeared to be nothing wrong.

"All that's here is evidence that you have a heart, despite what you claim."

"My hearts yours, that's why I don't have one anymore." He countered, still managing to be sweet despite his pain. But for how long – it was anyone's guess.

"Well, then you have mine. But aside from that and bloody ribs, and everything else you need in a body, there's nothing here."

"I can feel it, Caroline." Klaus growled.

"And I can't find it." She countered, extracting the pliers carefully and moving to face him. "How do we know its even there?"

"Because we saw Silas stick the stake in my back." Klaus said moodily. "While I was protecting you, might I add."

"I didn't ask you to." She snapped.

"And I clearly shouldn't have." He retorted, the fire still in his eyes even as Caroline bit back the pain that rose up at his remark.

"You really think that?" She asked with just as much anger. "Then, god, I feel sorry for you." She spun around, fully intent on walking away from him, but he shot around to block her at a tremendous speed, glaring and furious.

"Don't turn your back on me!" He growled. "Never turn your back on me!"

"I should have turned my back on you ages ago!" Caroline exploded, not backing down to his power show. "But there you go, love makes you do stupid and crazy things. I wish I could stop loving you."

They glowered at each other, till Klaus stepped back.

"It's gone."

The anger drained quickly out of Caroline's body, and the fear that replaced it made her freeze, boiling hot to ice cold. What was gone…his feelings for her? Did he not love her anymore? What had she done?

"The pain, it's gone." He breathed, reaching for his back. "It was…it was never there." He scowled, refusing to accept that he had been fooled. "Silas…he got in my head." Klaus looked searchingly towards Caroline, and she wished that she could tell him that it wasn't true, that everything that had happened was real and that his mind hadn't been infiltrated. But it made sense. It all made sense.

"You took my mind off it." He said, calm now. "You brought me back, Caroline."

"By hurting you." She said, shame starting to infiltrate her mind as the words from their heated argument echoed in her head.

"I did the same to you." He pointed out. "And you tried to help me, through everything."

Caroline huffed. "What else would I do? You were hurt."

"Friends, then?" Klaus said, a faint smile on his lips, the pain long forgotten.

Caroline tilted her head, a similar smile gracing her face before she shot across to him with such speed that he was knocked into the couch, with Caroline straddling his hips.

"You're an idiot." She murmured fondly, kissing him fiercely. He responded with equal enthusiasm, clutching her towards him as his back healed.

"And don't think for a second that I meant what I said." She added, pulling away momentarily. "I wish I could stop loving you because it makes me crazy, but I'd rather be crazy than not in love with you at all."

He chuckled. "I seem to remember saying something similar about Stefan's love for Elena. 'Crazy or not, that kind of love never dies'." He gazed thoughtfully at her. "It seems that now I finally understand how true the words are."

Caroline grinned again. "You're an idiot."

"Then so are you." Klaus teased, and she countered it with another kiss.

"Urgh, this is so  _not_  what I need right now." Rebekah said dryly, and the couple broke apart to see her standing in the doorway.

"What happened to  _you_?" Caroline asked, taking in the girls appearance.

Rebekah was a mess – her clothes disheveled and torn in parts, her hair mussed, one heel of her shoe broken and dragging behind her. There was a smudge at the corner of Rebekah's mouth and Caroline couldn't tell if it was lipstick or blood, but her lips certainly looked swollen too.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" The Blonde Original groaned, and frowned when Klaus chuckled.

"Believe me, sister, you are not the only one."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Rough night." Klaus surveyed her. "By the looks of things, it appears that you've had the same. Is Stefan giving you grief?"

"Gross." Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Just like what I see before me." Rebekah retorted, giving a pointed glance to where Caroline was perched across Klaus' lap. She shrugged, not bothering to move for Rebekah's sake.

"So you're not denying it, I notice." Klaus kept on, wanting the information from his sister.

"It wasn't Stefan." Rebekah huffed.

"Then who?"

"None of your business." She sniffed, but Caroline grinned, guessing whom it might've been. Her smile widened when Klaus continued to look confused.

"You cheeky girl." Caroline said with approval.

"I didn't say anything, so shut it," Rebekah snapped. "Or I'll wring your neck instead."

"I've no doubt you will." Caroline nodded; she was accustomed to the Mikaelson's threats now. Klaus almost looked proud.

"I swear you're just as bad as he is." Rebekah said.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Caroline said smugly.

Klaus chuckled. "That's my girl." He murmured in her ear.

"Enough happy times." Rebekah glanced down the hall, wondering where the rest of the family was. "I've got news for you."

"As do we." Klaus sighed, holding Caroline close for a second before he shifted from under her so they sat side by side. They could catch a break later.

"Does this news include why I have to see you shirtless right now?" His sister wrinkled her nose, but nodded to the pair. "I'll see if we can't rouse up our brothers and their companions."

"What do you suppose we'll do?" Caroline asked Klaus, tucking her bare feet onto the couch.

"What we should have done from the start." Klaus said in a low voice, his hands tender as they took one of hers. "Kill Silas."

Rebekah brought back the rest of the family once she was clothed and groomed, without a trace of whatever squabble she had managed to get herself into previously. Caroline raised an eyebrow, but otherwise said nothing. Rebekah rolled her eyes in response, but otherwise said nothing.

"This had better be worth interrupting our night." Kol said, grinning at the exasperated looks his brothers sent him.

"Oh, it will be." Klaus said silkily. "We're going to kill Silas."

"About time." Kol nodded. Eva sat down beside him on the piano seat.

"What brought this judgment about?" Elijah asked, glancing towards Gwen in the armchair before him. She perched with her chin resting atop her clasped hands, taking everything in wordlessly as she always did so well.

"The events of tonight." Klaus responded with a harsh edge to his voice.

"Mind telling me what happened?" Rebekah asked.

"Silas attacked us and stabbed Klaus with what we thought was the white oak stake." Caroline explained quickly, leaving out the other details to save Klaus' pride. "It took us hours to claw it out, and it was only a normal stake."

Elijah tilted his head ever so slightly at Caroline's words, but otherwise said nothing. He clearly knew what no one else did – that there was another side to the story – but he would rather no one else knew about his younger brothers potential weakness, even if it was trusted family. Klaus squeezed her fingers gently in thanks.

"If Silas could make Klaus of all people believe that he was stabbed with the white oak stake," Caroline continued with a furrowed brow. "What else can he do?"

"I'd rather not wait and find out." Eva said simply.

"Agreed." Kol nudged her shoulder with his before turning back to his family. "So, then, what's the plan?"

"I believe Rebekah has something to tell us first." Klaus said, raising his eyebrows expectantly at his sister.

"What do you want, Nik?" She said, arms crossed as she leaned against the doorway.

"An update on the search for the elusive cure." He responded.

"Things got complicated." Rebekah sighed. "We're still tracking Katherine down."

"That might not be that difficult." Elijah said. "She got in contact with me."

"You and Katherine? And I thought you were the smart brother." Rebekah scoffed, ignoring her other brothers' frowns.

"You don't have a smart brother. There are no smart Mikaelson's." Elijah responded, ignoring Klaus and Kol's frowns as well.

"If there's any smart brother, its me." Kol pouted. "I warned those stupid Mystic Falls babies that they were awakening Satan when they messed around with Silas, told them not to try and find the cure, and did they listen? No. And now see the mess we're in?"

"Enough, Kol." Eva hushed him. "You were right, don't let it go to your head."

"Yes, lets forget about your whining." Rebekah sneered. "What did Katherine want, Elijah?"

"To broker a deal." Elijah responded. "I assume it's for the cure, and her safety in regards to Niklaus' wrath."

"Somehow I don't believe that she's going to just hand it over." Caroline said bitterly. "She's always got her own agenda, her own plans."

"And somehow I feel that you got the worst of one of those plans." Eva noted.

"Lets not talk about that." Caroline said, but still bit her lip as Klaus' face darkened, recalling her words in Vienna about Katherine's involvement with her transformation.

"I ought to chase her to the ends of the planet." He said ominously.

"But then I doubt we'd get the cure," Caroline reasoned. "And that's one of my priorities now."

"Have you changed your mind?" Klaus asked, trying to disguise the furrow in his brow. She smoothed it quickly with her fingers.

"No. But I want to make things right with Bonnie."

"What of the Bennett girl?" Rebekah said sharply.

"There were complications…" Caroline exhaled. "We stopped the last sacrifice for Silas' plans, but we had to change Bonnie to do so."

"What do you mean change?" Gwen spoke up for the first time, frowning.

"My guess is that Caroline had to change her friend into a vampire." Rebekah said, glancing calculatingly at the brunette. "I'm going to also guess that my brother has clued you in on everything around here."

"You don't need to worry about that." Gwen said with a laugh hidden in her voice.

"Oh, believe me, I wasn't worrying." Rebekah scoffed, rolling her eyes at the frown Elijah sent her way in contradiction to her rude words. She had no reason to be nice to the girl; she had barely proved herself yet. Only time would tell. "So now we're going to be risking our lives to get the cure for Bonnie Bennett of all people?"

"Its up for discussion once we have it." Elijah said reasonably, satisfying all of them.

"We should focus on other things. Killing Silas, for example." Kol reminded them, shifting impatiently next to Eva. "And how we are even going to manage that."

"Quite simple, really." Klaus sat back like a reclining lion, lazily in control of everything. "While Rebekah and Elijah seek Katherine and wrangle the cure from her cold grip, we'll contact the first witch who placed the spell on Silas to make him immortal."

"Qetsiyah." Caroline nodded. "But how?"

"I was hoping to enlist Gwen with that task." Klaus said, and Gwen stiffened as the attention of the room was turned on her, half of the family frowning in confusion.

"Why Gwen?" Eva asked.

"I agree. How does she tie in?" Rebekah added.

"Seriously?" Caroline shared a smile with Gwen. "They still don't know."

"Know what?" Kol asked, his irritation clear on his face.

"That I'm a witch." Gwen said exasperatedly, turning to catch Elijah's eye. "How did they not know this?"

"I might have neglected to tell them." Elijah said with a sly smirk on his lips, taking delight from the confusion.

"How did  _you_  know this?" Rebekah asked Caroline. She shrugged, tilting her head towards Klaus.

"In my defense, I had some help."

"Nik knows everything." The Blonde Original grumbled, tightening her crossed arms and slumping further against the doorframe.

"I'll point out that I was the closest in my guess." Eva said chirpily. "So you both owe me fifty bucks."

"How, dearest?" Kol asked, but he was smiling.

"I said she was human, and she's human. Just special." Eva smiled at the dark haired girl, who was just taking far too much amusement from the families reaction.

"Well, prove it, then." Rebekah said sulkily to Gwen. "How are you a witch? You hardly look it."

"I was born in the late 50s." Gwen said coolly. "So not as old as your thousand years, but old enough. There was enough spiritual energy around in the 70s for me to cast a reasonable aging spell without violating nature."

"You certainly don't look older than any of us." Eva noted, earning a smile from the brunette.

"Thank you." Gwen turned back to Rebekah. "And as for proving that I am what I say I am, I won't bother with cheap parlor tricks." Gwen tilted her head with a smirk. "Though I can tell that you had a run-in with a man recently."

"Anyone could say that about Beks." Kol chuckled.

"While I hate you for that comment, Kol," Rebekah scowled. "I have to agree on some level. Anyone could tell you that."

"I doubt that anyone could tell you his name was Galen Vaughn." Gwen said nonchalantly.

"Bekah!" Caroline exclaimed. "You sly dog!"

Rebekah was too busy glaring daggers at the witch, who sat still, returning her gaze levelly.

"You ought to pay for revealing that," Rebekah said slowly. "But you certainly have gumption, and I have to respect that. For now."

Gwen nodded in acknowledgement, and Elijah relaxed slightly from where he had leaned forward, prepared to stop his sister from attacking the girl.

"Enough gossip," Klaus brought them back, though he raised an eyebrow at his sister at the new information. "Will you be able to contact Qetsiyah?"

"Should I get involved in this?" Gwen retorted.

Klaus tightened his jaw in frustration, and Elijah jumped in.

"It's Gwendolyn's choice," He said. "However, it would do great good to try and help us."

"At the moment, the only way we have to kill this vampire is the cure that would make him human again." Caroline explained. "And then that would leave someone I care about as a vampire for eternity."

"Why should that concern me?" Gwen asked, and Caroline could understand why. She had only just become involved in this family's crazy antics, and she could walk away if she only wanted to keep herself safe.

"The girl who was just turned used to be a witch." Caroline said slowly, hoping that this information could be a selling point for Gwen.

"You cut her off from nature?" The brunette frowned disapprovingly at Caroline. "Why?"

"The alternative was the death of a coven of witches." Klaus said defensively before Caroline could answer. "Arithmetic might not be a strong point, but you can't argue that one vampire is worse than twelve dead bodies."

Gwen bristled, but Elijah's hand on her shoulder calmed her.

"So if we find another death for this Silas, that leaves the cure for your friend, to return her back to her normal life?" Gwen summarized.

"The cure is still a debatable point, but yes." Rebekah added, ignoring the imploring look Caroline sent her way. "I was promised a discussion there."

"And you shall get one." Elijah soothed, glancing at Caroline, speaking through his eyes.  _Wait._

"So?" Klaus pressed.

"I'll think about it." Gwen said after a pause.

"But – "

"Let her have some time, Niklaus." Elijah reasoned.

"We have no time to spare, brother." Klaus exclaimed.

"Just an hour." Gwen compromised. "That's all I ask."

Klaus exhaled, then nodded. "Very well."

Gwen sat back with a sigh.

"So if we get in touch with Qetsiyah," Kol said slowly. "Then we find out his weakness."

"Every supernatural being has one, for a balance." Eva added.

"And then we can find out what we can use to kill him." Rebekah said.

"And send him to the other side to suffer for eternity." Caroline nodded. "Clever."

"He deserves a little pain himself." Klaus gritted, recalling the phantom pain he had felt. He had truly believed he was going to die. And he never wanted to feel that weak again. His hands tightened around Caroline's again, and she ran a soothing thumb across his knuckles in response.

"Well, with that plan sorted for the time being, we might need a little time to ponder it." Elijah said, finding an easy way to escape the room with Gwen to talk everything through. They were almost out the door before the family knew what was happening.

"Agreed." Kol said, casually tugging Eva to the door. "I believe we have some unfinished business, Miss Evangeline." The three heard him say to her as they headed down the hall.

Rebekah made a face. "Urgh, vomit. I need a good shower to wash off just that comment." She sashayed from the room with only one backwards glance. "No sex on the sofa."

"Its my house." Klaus countered cheekily.

Finally they were alone.

Caroline wriggled closer into Klaus' side with a sigh. "Why does all the drama happen here?"

"It won't be for long." He promised, pressing his cheek against her golden curls. "Once everything's sorted, we'll go travelling again."

"I'd like that." She hummed into his chest.

Klaus paused, not moving, not even breathing for a moment. Caroline felt his hands trace over her hand. It had not left his grasp through the whole discussion, and his fingers had to with her left hand all the while. He shifted slightly, to see her face, and she met his beautiful blue gaze, the sea to her sky blue.

"Marry me, Caroline."


	31. Thoughtful Thinking

"Marry me, Caroline."

"What?" She murmured, not quite certain she had heard him right.

"Marry me." Klaus was almost smiling, and she was certain it was a dream. But even she couldn't have dreamed up the way he held her left hand, the slight quirk of his perfect lips, the impossible stormy blue of his eyes. Even the statement itself; not a question, almost a request, almost a demand – it was so Klaus that she couldn't have thought of it herself.

"We just went through all this drama," Caroline waved with her right hand at his back where only an hour before he had ripped it bloody as he tried to claw out what they had believed to be the white oak stake. "And you think now is a good time to say 'Oh, hey, marry me'?"

"Should I take this as a rejection, love?" Klaus countered.

Caroline held his gaze levelly. "Don't distract me. My question was first."

He raised his eyebrows at her before sighing. "You know I love you. I know that you are sheer and utter perfection, and that I won't ever love another, and that I want you by my side for all of eternity. I come from a time where once you knew you loved someone and they loved you, you made your claim on each other openly. All I care about is you knowing that I love you and that you belong to me, just as I belong to you. Do you see my reasons now?"

She was stumped. It was all very well to know that he loved her, but it was something else entirely when he was declaring his feelings so openly. She felt flattered and at the same time so overwhelmed. A blush rose to color her cheeks.

"But why now?" Caroline assembled her thoughts again. "When all of this drama is happening, when I said all those things…" She recalled her heated words, how she had claimed that she wished she didn't love him so strongly, and wondered how he could still want to marry her after that.

"You forget, love, that I've had far worse words thrown at me." He said with the barest hint of a smirk on his face. "Lovers spats are simply lovers spats. Heated words only show passion. Words of ice delivered with a cold harshness are the ones you must consider, and so far, you have not said anything with that nature." Klaus brushed his lips along the knuckles of her left hand. "You said that love makes us do crazy things. Love also makes us realize what we have been missing, and what we must do to ensure that we never miss it again."

"You didn't need to do something as big as proposing to me." Caroline said, her fingers tracing his lips and edging along his stubbled jaw line. "I plan on spending eternity with you, and I don't need a ring or a certificate to do so."

"Nothing would make me happier than to have you with me forever." Klaus quietly smiled into her palm. "But for my sake, lets make it official to the rest of the world." He knew in the back of his mind that anyone who wanted to hurt him would try to get to her, but they were less likely to do so if they knew she was more than a mere dalliance. Or at least the few that would still risk it would be far too daring for anything but death to stop them. And he would be there to meet them and be the last face they saw before they met their violent, bloody end.

Caroline exhaled, her heart starting to pick up speed as she started to accept what she had wanted for so long, her girlish side kicking in and spinning in circles at the thought of being someone's wife, of being Niklaus Mikaelson's wife. "Aren't you supposed to be on bended knee?"

Klaus grinned at her, moving to kneel on the floor before her. "Caroline Forbes, would you do me the honor of becoming my wi-"

He was knocked backwards with Caroline giggling on top of him, pressing kisses to every inch of skin she could reach.

"Of course I will, you idiot."

"That's three times tonight you've called me an idiot, sweetheart." Klaus murmured between kisses. "I'll have to teach you a lesson."

"Please do." She grinned, gasping and laughing as he suddenly swept her off her feet and carried her out of the room.

…

The Mikaelsons had an unexpected guest early in the morning. Elena had turned up on the doorstep, looking slightly frazzled. Caroline was the one to open the door and welcome her inside, pouring her a cup of coffee as she sat in the barstool in the modern kitchen.

"Where are the rest of them?" Elena asked after sipping her drink and stirring in another spoonful of sugar.

"Some are still asleep. Or trying to." Caroline said with a small smile, thinking of Klaus. He had woken up with a start the second Elena's car had driven up the gravel driveway, and was halfway out of bed before Caroline had pushed him back into the sheets. Once he had realized who had come knocking, and that Caroline could deal with the matter far better than he could, he had rolled back into the soft mattress. What with the pain and struggle over the fake white oak stake, and the late night activities that had ensued after his proposition, the Original Hybrid had needed the rest.

Caroline toyed with her left ring finger, knowing that a circle of metal would soon sit there. A circle with a diamond on it. She felt the weight of the ring on her necklace, sitting next to the tigers eye pendant, hidden beneath her shirt. She remembered Klaus presenting it to her…

_Caroline lay curled into Klaus' body, smiling into his chest as he stroked his fingers down her spine, circling round to her front and dipping along the slight curve of her smooth stomach._

_"I'm surprised." He remarked, and she raised her head to look at him, flipping her rumpled curls back from her face._

_"How so?"_

_"That you haven't demanded to see the ring already." Klaus replied._

_"I got a little distracted." Caroline smiled, trailing kisses up the plane of his toned chest till she reached his face._

_"Well before you get distracted again," Klaus murmured before rolling so he hovered over her, pressing her back into the pillows with his mouth hotly claiming hers. He pulled away slightly and she made a noise of protest in the back of her throat, her fingers already curling around his neck to bring him back. "Would you like to see your ring?"_

_It got her attention immediately. "There's a ring?"_

_Klaus grinned, kissing a path to the hollow of her throat before rising and leaving her near squirming in the tangled sheets. Caroline caught her breath and shifted so she sat against his elaborate headboard, tugging the sheets up with her so she was covered. Her mind whirred. If he had a ring, he must have been thinking about it for longer than he let on._

_Klaus retrieved the box from the locked draw beside the bed, sliding back under the covers to sit beside her and place it on her thinly covered thigh._

_"The idea is that you're meant to open it and see the extravagance of my love for you, sweetheart." Klaus teased as Caroline sat there wide eyed, almost too nervously excited to open it and make it real. She looked up at him, and he heaved an exaggerated sigh before resting his large warm hand on her leg and slowly opening the little black box for her._

_She gasped. She couldn't help it. For there in the box was the most beautiful ring that she had seen. She should have assumed that Klaus would just find something like that to give her. Something perfect._

_The bright blue diamond showcased in the centre was quietly stunning, glowing even in the dim light. Smaller twin white diamonds hugged either side of the jewel, adding to its light. It was all set on a thin white gold band that she knew would fit perfectly on her ring finger, though she never would know how he had figured out her ring size of all things._

_"Do you not like it?" Klaus asked, and she realized that she had been staring silently at the ring for too long._

_"Its stunning." She murmured._

_"Just like you." He said, and she forgot to roll her eyes at him, too preoccupied._

_"Its too good, I'm afraid I'm going to break it." Caroline admitted._

_"Again, just like me with you." Klaus remarked, and she looked up to catch him gazing softly at her, a small smile on his face. His smile grew, and he plucked the ring from the box, holding out his palm for her left hand, which she readily gave._

_"Blue diamonds are among the rarest in the world, just like you." He said, twisting the ring between his fingers so it caught the light, sparkling slightly. "This one has historical significance, being the so-called 'lost' cut from 'le bleu de France', also known as the French Blue. You might know of its larger twin that it was cut from, called the Hope Diamond."_

_Caroline's eyes widened. "Seriously? That's way too expensi-"_

_Klaus held his pinkie finger against her lips, brows raised in amusement. She shut her mouth back into her bright smile, and he happily continued. "Diamonds with this bright a color are called 'natural fancy colored diamonds', which is a small reference back to the first time I tried to court you."_

_Caroline laughed lightly, remembering their first words at the ball where she had blatantly asked him about his personal invitation, accompanied by the beautiful blue ball gown that had truly made her feel like a princess. 'I fancy you'. It had shocked her right out of her system. A pleasant shock, though she never would have admitted it at the time. Klaus smiled; pleased she had liked the reference, and continued._

_"Diamonds themselves are the strongest substance known to man, just like you. They are said to give clarity, passion and balance to the wearer, which you already have in abundance. The color blue also symbolizes heavenly grace, which you truly are, my angel." Klaus slid the ring easily onto her left ring finger, and it practically molded to her hand like it had been there for her entire life. It was perfect. It couldn't have been more perfect._

_Klaus looked up at her again. "Marry me, Caroline."_

_"I love you. How could I ever say no?" Caroline chuckled, shocked to find herself blinking back tears of joy. "Yes. Of course I'll marry you, Nik."_

_He grinned and pressed kiss after kiss after kiss to her lips, her nose, her cheeks, every square inch of her body, all the while keeping their hands interlocked, the blue diamond sparkling on her finger._

Caroline hadn't enjoyed taking the ring  _off_  after that, but they had both agreed it was for the best while they dealt with Silas. They could tell everyone later, particularly once any close threats had been removed.

She still smiled faintly at the memory. She welcomed the idea of being married to Klaus. She had been afraid, of what had happened with her parents marriage, of what people would say, of what they would think. She had worried until she realized that it didn't matter – so long as she was happy. And nothing would make her happier than to truly be with him forever. She loved him, and very little else mattered. It was an all consuming love, something she had laughed at until it had forcefully hit her and shown her what a powerful thing it could be, both strength and weakness rolled together.

She came back from her musings at the curious look her friend sent across the counter. Elena glanced down at Caroline's hands, but said nothing.

"When will Rebekah be up?" The brunette asked.

"Who knows?" Caroline responded with a shrug. "Half of the time, she's awake before dawn, the other half, she sleeps till midday."

"Well there's no need to worry about that today." Rebekah said as she strolled in, immaculately dressed as usual. She helped herself to coffee and sighed after her first sip, before gesturing the cup towards Elena. "What brings you to this side of the tracks? I thought this place was out of bounds to you."

"Its not to Stefan, why should it be to me?" Elena sassed back.

Caroline held up her hands. "Hold on, Stefan's been here?"

Rebekah shrugged. "Well, I wasn't going to just move out when Klaus left, now, was I?"

"And you joked about Nik and I on the couch, you were probably there yourself." Caroline shuddered.

Elena winced. "Care…I'm not quite there yet."

Caroline looked sheepish. "Right. Sorry."

"No, Caro." Rebekah frowned. "Elena should get used to it."

"Beks!"

"She's right, Care." Elena said. "She's rude, but she's right."

"You still haven't answered my question, so I can be as rude as I'd like." Rebekah said flippantly. "Why are you here, Petrova?"

"I want to help." Elena toyed with her mug, frowning. "Damon's going to try and find the cure for me, but I don't want it. I heard him talking to Stefan while we were in New York – they're not going to back down or give up." She looked up at Rebekah. "I know you want the cure for yourself."

"What?" Caroline exclaimed, turning on the Blonde Original. "Since when?"

Rebekah held her ground. "Its my choice."

"Has this got anything to do with Vaughn?" Caroline asked, eyes narrowed.

"No,"

"Yes," Elena murmured into her coffee. Rebekah shot a glare at the brunette, and Elena turned her attention to Caroline. "He caught up with us in New York, and while Rebekah swears she feels nothing for him, I know confused feelings when I see them." She turned her sympathetic doe eyes to Rebekah. "You want to take the cure to be with him, don't you?"

"Please," Rebekah scoffed. "I've got enough confusion with Stefan – who still wants you on some level, by the way. I don't need vampire hunter trouble on top of that. I want the cure for me."

Both of the girls doubted her words, but Caroline couldn't hold back her plans.

"We need the cure for Bonnie."

Elena frowned. "Why?"

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Why do you think, Elena? She obviously turned Bonnie into a vampire and she wants to fix it."

"Bonnie was being used by Silas," Caroline explained. "She was going to kill twelve witches. It was the only way I could stop her and Silas."

"But she was a witch, Care…"

"And now she hates me. I know, Elena." Caroline snapped, then inhaled slowly. "I'm going to get the cure for her, so she can be human again."

"And you wont even spare a thought for me?" Rebekah asked, outraged.

"How about we get the cure first, and then we can argue over who deserves it more?" Elena asked, bringing them back to the task at hand.

"Well how do you suppose you'll help us then?" Rebekah asked moodily, eyeing Elena over her cup of coffee. "I mean, is it going to even be worth taking you along?"

"Wouldn't it be worth pissing Damon off a little?" Elena fished.

"Don't try that one with me." Rebekah snapped. "I'm not going to be fooled for a second when you care for either Salvatore. You've got them both on strings."

"Bekah." Caroline cut in. "I think it'd be helpful for Elena to join you and Elijah."

"Caro!" Rebekah pouted. "You're meant to be on my side!"

"I thought this was clear – there are no more 'sides'." Caroline said. "There's only people. And for now, there's problems like Silas and the cure to deal with."

Elena nodded, and even Rebekah had to see her point. They were united and tied together now. It wasn't the Originals against the Mystic Falls scooby-doo gang, it wasn't good verses evil, it was humanity.

"Well, how can I help?" Elena asked.

Caroline smiled slightly, almost diabolical. "Elijah got a call from Katherine, and she wants to meet up. She's expecting to meet with him at some point…so that gives you two plans. Plan A – she gives the cure over to Elijah plain and simple."

"But that is not Katherine by any means." Elena pointed out.

"True. So Plan B – we get just as scheming. When you catch her – and you will catch her, she's not that good – you can try to strike a deal for the cure. When she says no – cause of course she will – you wrangle the plan to meet Elijah from her, and Elena can plan to go meet him disguised as Katherine."

"You've got more twists and turns than an Agatha Christie novel, Caro-pop." Rebekah said, but she smiled. "What next?"

"Elena and Elijah will have some time to search for wherever Katherine has hidden the cure while Rebekah keeps her distracted. And if Katherine escapes, who else is she going to run to but Elijah? She'll still want to be in his good graces, and he can play that as he wishes. This way simply gives the added benefit of not having to play by Katherine's rules."

"Why not try something simpler?" Rebekah frowned.

"The more complex it is, the less likely Katherine is going to see right through it." Caroline said.

"She's right." Elena agreed. "Katherine saw right through your brothers plan when it came to the doppelganger sacrifice."

Rebekah drained her coffee mug with a raised eyebrow before she spoke. "The Petrova girl also had plenty of bedazzled men helping her, including my brother. But you do have a point – she was just as doe eyed as you back then and twice as naïve. She'd see through any simple plan we'd have now." She tilted her head and smiled at Caroline. "Good thinking, Blondie."

"You are  _not_  starting that nickname." Caroline pointed threateningly at her. "Damon was bad enough."

"But I'm far worse." Klaus said smoothly as he walked into the kitchen, twinning his hands around Caroline's waist. "Wouldn't you agree, love?"

"You have better nicknames, that's for sure." Caroline said, leaning back into his chest.

Rebekah chuckled under her breath and Caroline frowned questioningly at her.

"I don't think our guest agrees with your current embrace." She noted.

Caroline glanced across to Elena, who bit her lip and busied herself with her coffee mug. "Its not that I don't agree…I'm just not used to it. Yet." She added with a faint smile.

Klaus gazed almost coldly at Elena – he had fought so hard to finally win Caroline, and he could almost feel just how easily everything could crumble down around him with a few simple words from this one girl who Caroline trusted. However, the look slipped from his eyes as Caroline pressed her lips chastely but lovingly against his cheek.

She extracted herself from his embrace, handing him a coffee cup as a poor substitute, and fetched the three empty mugs to wash up in the sink. Klaus placed the cup Caroline had handed him on the counter and followed her instantly to help, winking at her when she bumped her hip against his playfully.

Elena watched it all, her smile growing warmer along with her thoughts. Caroline was happy – Elena would always be able to read her friend as well as a book – but she had never seen Klaus act like this. He was so human with her, it was startling.

True, he still had that same harshness to him as he had before: Damon had been forced to suffer through that bite until the very moment they were about to leave for New York, when Klaus had begrudgingly passed Damon a glass with just enough of his blood to cure him before leaving with Stefan and Caroline to search for clues like some mystery trio.

And yet, with Caroline, Klaus seemed almost caring. It was on a completely different level to his siblings, who he was still so cruel to when he tried to be kind in his way. Elena remembered that she had told Caroline that he needed love, and she saw that he hadn't merely received it, he had learnt it, embraced it, returned it in his own way. He was fiercely loving. Like a wolf protecting his mate, a lion with his lioness. Klaus was protective to an animalistic state. But it wasn't purely animal. He felt something for her, something human. It was real. That much Elena could certainly see.

Whether she could get her mind around it, however, was another matter. But she'd try. Caroline had been there for her through everything, it was the least she could do to try and return that support. Even if she did have other things on her mind. Elena hadn't lost her compassion, but nor had she lost her drama and confusion, and that could be with her for years to come, just as Caroline seemed to be planning to do so with Klaus.

"If you take a picture, it'll last longer." Rebekah's drawl shook Elena from her thoughts. "Well, actually, maybe not. But hopefully it'll be less nauseating." Caroline and Klaus did look every inch the infatuated couple while not being too public about it. Elena wondered how long Rebekah had seen them like this.

"When will Elijah be up?" Elena asked, changing the subject rather than admitting that Klaus and Caroline made a cute couple. She was happy for Caroline, but she wasn't there yet. She just wasn't.

"He's been up since dawn, reading in the study." Rebekah said. "Lets leave them to their lovesick mooning and go relate this plan idea to him."

Elena followed the Original vampire out of the kitchen.

Caroline glanced over her shoulder as the blonde and the brunette made their exit. Klaus took advantage of her distraction to surprise her, cornering her against the counter.

"What do you want now?" She asked with attitude, her bright smile softening the words.

"I didn't get a proper good morning." He pointed out.

"Good morning." Caroline said, moving to get past him.

"Is that a proper good morning?" He smirked, cutting her off and bracing his arms on the counter either side of her, locking her in a cage she was willing to stay within.

"You tell me." She responded cheekily.

"You show me." Klaus retorted, and Caroline stretched up on tiptoe to kiss him gently. It never stayed gentle with them, they both wanted more from each other always, not able to get enough. He claimed her mouth hungrily, almost as if he could forgo breakfast and survive on  _her_  instead. She loved it. She loved all of it. She loved how his hair curled slightly through her fingers, how he gripped her waist tightly with his broad hands, how they pressed closely together as he trapped her against the counter.

Caroline wasn't lost, however, not yet, and so when she heard Gwen coming down the staircase and heading towards the kitchen, she lightly pushed against Klaus' shoulder.

"I don't care." He murmured huskily into the hollow of her throat, brushing hot, desirous kisses along her skin.

"Nik," She attempted to scold, only it came out as more of a sigh.

"Tell me to stop, then." Klaus smirked, sucking on her tender skin to form a mark that went away almost instantly.

Caroline tugged his mouth up to meet hers again, and he knew he had won. Until he felt the counter against the small of his back, and Caroline was pulling away from him, no longer cornered by him. She had turned them without much notice.

"You've had a proper good morning," She reminded him with a smirk as Gwen walked into the room.

Klaus was sorely tempted to simply grab her by the hips and press her body against his again, but she stuck a piece of toast in his mouth instead. As he frowned at her and bit down on the crisp bread, Caroline smiled and turned to Gwen.

"Morning,"

"Good morning." Gwen said, pouring the last of the coffee into a large mug. She looked like she needed every drop. Her eyes had dark shadows beneath them, and she looked as though she'd rather be back in bed.

"Is my brother keeping you up?" Klaus said bluntly with a smirk.

Gwen scowled at him but held back whatever retort she initially thought of - clearly someone had educated her in how to speak to the infamous Klaus Mikaelson.

"No. I've been considering your request."

That sobered Klaus up from his mood almost instantly as his mind snapped back to the task ahead.

"And what is your answer?"

Gwen set her jaw. "Yes. On the condition that I have control over my own powers, my own spells, my own involvement."

"That can be discussed according to the deal we make here and now." Klaus folded his arms across his chest. "I assume you'll want an amenity of some kind, or protection. Or perhaps a Grimoire from another ancient coven? I'm certain we have kept some from over the centuries."

Gwen shook her head. "None of that. I'm not expecting anything in return, which therefore will make me a free agent of my own life. If I don't like the road that the magic leads me down, or I want to back out, then I may do so. I'm helping because I want to, but that means I am allowed to not want to."

"That sounds reasonable." Caroline nodded, her words serving as more of a reminder to Klaus as she looked to him for confirmation.

He exhaled. "Very well. You have control over your own participation."

Gwen dipped her head once. "Thank you."

"So," Caroline clasped her hands together as she summarized. "Elijah and Rebekah are going to go track down Katherine with Elena's help, and Gwen will hopefully be able to help us find Qetsiyah and if all goes to plan, we'll find out how to stop Silas." She turned to Klaus. "Do you want to include Kol and Eva?"

Klaus tilted his head consideringly. "If they would like to get involved, by all means, they may."

"I'll pass on the message, my liege." Caroline said jokingly, curtsying and making her way towards the door. Klaus caught her by the arm before she got far, bringing her close and gazing directly into her eyes, murmuring quiet enough for her ears only to hear.

"Much as I love you submitting to me, I never want to see you like that again. You're strong, love. You've proved that to me countless times over the last few days. Bow to no one." He brushed a sweet kiss across her parted lips, his hand moving to touch the ring that protruded under her shirt as a reminder of how strong she was, strong and light as a diamond. "Remember that."

Caroline smiled, pressing a fiercer kiss to his mouth to convey her response fully before departing his presence.

They waited till sundown to complete the task. Kol and Eva naturally wanted to be involved. The need to defend the family mixed with the tangible promise of adventure and excitement were tempting enough reasons to help. Not to mention that five members in a ritual such as this would give a balanced power.

After Elijah, Elena and Rebekah had eventually left to track down Katherine, they had gathered the necessary materials and waited till the sun had fallen and the moon had climbed, to harness the maximum power needed to contact Qetsiyah. They gathered in the study once it was dark.

"Been a while since I was in a séance." Caroline said with a faint laugh that betrayed her nerves to Klaus. He caught her eye and nodded reassuringly, his gestures only for her, his kindness only for her to see.

Gwen had them sit around an old oak table, lighting the candles she had placed in the centre of the table with an impatient flick of one hand. Another twitch of her wrist had the electric lights flicker off. She twinned her plaited hair till it was secured in a bun on top of her head.

"Do we have a talisman of some kind?" She asked the vampires.

Klaus retrieved a loop of chain and leather from his pocket, placing it on the table for them all to see. The candlelight fluttered and glinted across the surface of the square charm attached to the necklace, throwing shadows across the symbols carved into its surface.

"This belonged to Qetsiyah."

"Perfect." Gwen nodded, curling her fingers around the talisman and drawing it across the table so it lay in her grasp comfortably. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly through her nose.

"Do we join hands, or…?" Caroline murmured softly, recalling the séance she had blindly done with Elena and Bonnie years ago as they called on Emily.

Kol raised his eyebrows at her. "Really? I thought we'd taught you better than that, darling."

"Its more of a show than anything." Eva explained and Kol jolted slightly as she stepped on his foot under the table. "We only need to be present in the room to give a solid grounding energy, usually linked hands aren't necessary."

"Though silence usually is." Gwen interjected without opening her eyes. Eva frowned, but shrugged consideringly and shut her mouth.

"Qetsiyah, I call on you." Gwen stated. "I summon your presence to this room. Speak to me."

There was silence and stillness.

Then Gwen opened her usually warm brown eyes, and they were a summery shade of  _green_.

"You summoned me from my rest on the Other Side." Gwen said, her voice slightly lighter, her delivery and stress on each word altering slightly to form an accent Caroline had not heard before.

"We have." Klaus leaned forward, taking command of the situation. "We ask for your assistance, Qetsiyah."

"And why should I give it to you?" She raised her brows.

"Because we may give you something – or someone – in return." Klaus said carefully. "Silas."

Gwen-Qetsiyah breathed out. "Silas," The green hazed eyes gazed into the distance for a moment before locking back on Klaus. "How would you possibly be able to  _give_  him to me?"

"By killing him so he will be on the Other Side with you."

The witch(es) scoffed. "He had the cure with him for over two thousand years, and never took it. What makes you think that you can force him to take it?"

"We never said anything about using the cure on Silas." Caroline interjected, and Klaus' hand latched warningly and protectively around hers under the table as the green gaze flicked onto her curiously.

"We plan to kill him some other way." Klaus finished.

"There is no other way." Gwen-Qetsiyah said, slowly returning her fiery gaze to Klaus. "I made him to be the very first immortal being, an indestructible creature. The only possible solution is for him to reverse the spell with the cure."

"Then perhaps we should look at obtaining the cure." Kol said in the pause that it took for everyone to mull over the witchs' words. Caroline gazed questioningly at him, and he raised his eyebrows. "I've spent decades with witches. I know that when they say something, you nod and agree, because they are right."

"But surely to create him you would have had to draw power from something to complete the spell." Klaus said carefully.

"Yes?" She snapped in response, knowing that he was planning something already.

"So what did you link to?"

Gwen-Qetsiyah smiled sinisterly, a look that seemed out of place for the woman Caroline knew her to be truly. "Nothing. I linked to neither tree nor sun nor moon. We didn't have half as many spirits to draw energy from, we had nature, and even then that is limited. My magic was beyond imagination, bound to nothing but myself."

"So what you're saying is that you linked to yourself." Caroline caught on quickly.

"That is correct." She responded, green eyes flashing to lock onto the baby vampire again.

"So we need to go find where she is buried?" Eva mused.

"Not possible. Even if we did find her, she would be nothing but dust by now." Kol frowned.

"Perhaps the ground – "

"No, the stone." Klaus interrupted, and Gwen-Qetsiyah snapped her focus towards him. He in turn met her gaze, refusing to say any more while she could overhear. "That is all, Qetsiyah. We appreciate the guidance you have given us."

She frowned, her green eyes blazing. "I will not leave. You think you can limit me to remain on the Other Side? I refuse to wait. I will see Silas now." Gwen started to shake, but before any of the supernatural beings could reach for her, her eyes snapped shut and the talisman went flying from her hands across the table, coming to rest in front of Caroline. The candles blazed before flickering to low points of light, yet even in the sudden gloom they could all see that Gwen slumped over herself, her lungs heaving like she had just run a marathon.

"Gwen?" Caroline ventured to say softly, her hand tightening around Klaus' as the brunettes head shot up. But when she opened her eyes, they had returned to their chocolate-like depths, and her usual warm smile curled around her lips, though she set her mouth grimly now too.

"I told you that I wanted to remain in control – that was not control." She said snarkily to Klaus.

"He's not good at giving control over." Caroline remarked.

"I don't want to know how you know that about my brother." Kol added.

"Silence, you lot." Klaus snapped, watching Gwen warily. "Can we trust that Qetsiyah isn't still possessing Gwen?"

"When did you join us?" Eva asked the girl point blank.

"About a month ago, in Israel. I met you all just after New Years Eve." Gwen responded naturally, understanding that she would have to prove that she wasn't controlled by anyone but herself.

"And who is currently missing from our little group?" Kol questioned.

"Your sister, Rebekah, and Elijah, your brother who I am currently…seeing." She answered.

"And what did we drink yesterday morning together?" Caroline asked lastly.

"Coffee, with one sugar and no milk. You had yours with so many spoonfuls I lost count." Gwen smiled slightly.

"Well that certainly sounds like something you'd have." Klaus remarked with a slight smirk, before his face turned grim again. "And it certainly sounds like you are yourself again."

"And now you're going to tell us why you cut off the spirit visit." Kol added.

"Rebekah brought back a little relic from her trip to Silas' tomb. A tomb stone that they all believed to be part of the ritual, though it turned out that it wasn't. It was merely used to pay off the local witches, who were then killed. They regard it as something even more precious than the rarest jewel, and that is due to a certain property contained within the stone." Klaus smirked. "Qetsiyah's calcified blood."

"So with her blood inside the stone, all we would need to do is fashion a stake from the rock…" Caroline mused.

"And stick it in him somehow." Eva pointed out. "Now how are we going to tackle that one?"

"Quite simply, actually." Klaus said. "We'll offer up a deal."

"Really?" Caroline frowned. "He hates you."

"Oh, I wasn't implying myself. I was hoping for someone completely unrelated to the drama. Someone with a long past with the Mikaelson family who would easily want to wreak havoc." Klaus' gaze shifted to rest on Eva. "Someone who is a very convincing actress."

"No." Kol said bluntly. "No way."

"Yes, way." Eva frowned at Kol. "You can't stop me."

"You'll find, dearest, that I can." Kol retorted.

"I want to help this family, Kol Mikaelson, and I'm sure that if you try to prevent me from doing so, you'll be stopped." Eva snapped, before turning back to Klaus. "I'm in."


	32. Final Stand

Eva shuffled her boots slightly in the forest undergrowth, her arms wrapped around her chest protectively as her sharp eyes searched through the gloom surrounding her. She refused to glance over her shoulder like some scared little girl, though she wished for eyes in the back of her head. Instead, she listened intently to the sounds of the forest around her.

Finally, after what seemed to be hours of waiting, she heard someone approaching, leaves sliding over each other like snakes in his wake. Eva glanced to her left as a man with dark hair and impossibly blue eyes appeared from between the trees like a wraith.

"Silas." She addressed him by his true name, despite never having seen him in his true form like this.

"You called." He replied, stopping a fair distance away from her and holding out his hands to present himself. "I came. So what would you of all people have to offer me?"

Eva brushed aside his words. "The cure. I can return it to you."

"Yet somehow I doubt that." Silas said coolly, sliding his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

"You shouldn't underestimate me." She said just as evenly, watching his every move while she remained still.

"And why is that?" He asked, pacing slightly. Despite his cool demeanor, he couldn't keep still. She supposed desiccating into a fossilized position for over two thousand years could make a person want to never remain completely frozen again.

"Because I won't even ask for protection in return. I don't have much to bargain with. All I ask is that you kill Klaus." Eva curled her lip slightly as she spoke his name, her hazel eyes glowing with fire.

Silas laughed. "See, that is where I don't believe you. Because I can't. Don't think that I don't know about you."

"Whats there to know?" She asked innocently.

"That you are attached to Kol Mikaelson. That you're attached to the whole family through that bond." He watched her speculatively. "Oh yes, I have my ways of finding things out. And that didn't take much digging. Don't expect me to be fooled. Why would you want Klaus dead?"

"Because he makes Kol's life hell. And mine." Eva snarled, before taking a breath and controlling herself. "I might not be as attached to Kol as you believe me to be, but I still want what's best for him. And his brother being alive is not in anyone's best interests. I understand that you have the means to end his life." She uncurled her palm to show a vial of dark red liquid, darker than blood. A potion. And not just any potion. "I have the means to restore your life."

Silas narrowed his eyes and began to walk towards the vial that she held out to him, but she curled her fingers back around the glass and retracted her arm.

"First your word that you will uphold your end of the bargain." She demanded.

Eva stood her ground as Silas slowly came closer, his gaze changing to one of inspection.

"First your word that you won't kill me on the spot." He retorted.

"I'll only be able to do that once I know that you won't kill me." She raised her eyebrows.

His eyes studied her face once again searchingly.

"Can I trust that you wont try to do something so foolish as to stake me with a feeble wooden stake now? It would do very little other than make me very irritable."

Eva scoffed. "Surely I don't look that blonde. And besides, does it look like I could possibly hide a weapon in these clothes?" She gestured to the skinny jeans and shirt that she wore, impossible to conceal a weapon within.

Silas almost smirked. "How did you come across the cure anyhow?"

"The Mikaelsons aren't the only ones who can track down Katherine Pierce." Eva smiled. "Child's play."

"The Petrova doppelganger, I assume." Silas nodded – clearly he had someone who had been able to tell him all of this information, Eva summarized. He would know far more if he had some way of finding information on his own through his sorcery tricks. "Well, that would make sense by all accounts." He tilted his head, regarding her face once more. "Very well. Hand over the cure and be assured that Klaus Mikaelson will die."

"At your hand." Eva finished, eyes narrowed.

"At my hand." Silas smirked properly now.

Eva extended her hand once more, dropping the vial into Silas' waiting palm. His smirk slowly faded from his face.

"What's wrong?" Eva frowned.

"You are foolish." He said darkly, glaring now.

"I don't understand." Eva said, wide eyed.

Silas scoffed degradingly at her. "I spent over two thousand years holding the cure in my grasp. You don't think I would know when it was truly in my hands?"

"It can't be…" Eva murmured.

Silas held up the glass. "Where is the real cure?"

"I swear, th – "

"It's a pity," He sighed, cutting off her protests. "You remind me so much of a woman I once considered my friend. I loved Qetsiyah in a way, just not the way that she wanted me to, and she betrayed me just as easily as you did." He stroked a finger down the side of her cheek before flinging the vial into the undergrowth and wrapping a hand around her slender throat. Eva gasped, tugging at his forearm while he lifted her slightly off the ground so the tips of her boots scraped against the dirt.

"Where is the cure?"

"I'm your cure, mate." Kol quipped from behind Silas, before grabbing his arms in an attempt to restrain him and free Eva from his grasp. Eva dropped to the ground, taking in an unnecessary lungful of air. Being supernatural didn't make it any less painful when you got hurt, it only made recovery time quicker.

Silas struggled against Kol, wrenching a hand free to slam an elbow back into his face, instantly breaking his nose. He spun around to face Kol, but another interruption came from behind him.

"Don't even think about hurting my baby brother." Klaus growled, swinging Silas back around to face him before sending a punch to the side of his head. Silas used the momentum of Klaus' blow to swing and right himself again before returning the punch, catching Klaus on the shoulder and making him stumble. Before Silas could do more, Caroline was there, pushing Silas away from Klaus and back into Kol's grasp. Silas used his feet to propel them both backwards until they hit a tree, momentarily breaking Kol's grip around his chest. Silas sped from his reach, looking around wildly to see whom his next attacker would be. His eyes locked on a certain individual who had remained away from the fight.

Gwen stood there, hands clasped around the slender block of stone they had carved from Silas' gravestone. The talisman was around her neck, and she was ready to channel Qetsiyah to ensure that the destruction of Silas would be full and proper, connecting his life and death in a full circle to restore the balance to nature.

In Silas' eyes, she was the biggest threat.

Caroline flew at him once she saw what his intent was, her fingers digging into the flesh of his arm like claws. He knocked her back with a single blow to the chest, causing Klaus to snarl and retaliate, plunging his hand into Silas' chest. He too was pushed off, Silas yelling in pain as a rib came out clutched in Klaus' grasp. Yet nothing held back Silas' advance as he sped towards the witch.

That is until Eva got to her first, placing her body between the two so his outstretched hand struck her first. Silas growled his frustration in unison with Eva's yelp, yet the blonde still found the strength to push Silas back towards the trees and away from the brunette. Silas grasped blindly behind him, finding a branch and stabbing it into Eva's side, grinning at her cry of pain mingling with Kol's panicked shout.

His triumph was short-lived, as Klaus grabbed his arm, twisting it back away from Eva and behind the tree trunk, dislocating it with a sickening  _pop_. Caroline did the same to his other arm before he could use it. Kol dislocated his jaw next with a vindictive punch, before he and Eva held his legs steady as Gwen finally approached, stone stake at the ready.

Silas was trapped completely against the tree. His ice blue eyes searched the witches face imploringly, yet she regarded him impassively in return. He should have died years ago. He had been a servant of nature and yet he had selfishly wanted immortality. It was far past his time to go.

Gwen closed her eyes for a moment, before she opened them again to show their green firey depths. Silas made a noise of recognition, unable to speak due to his fractured jaw, yet he knew whose presence truly stood before him.

"Soon, my love." Gwen-Qetsiyah said, a small malicious smile appearing on her face. She clasped the stone between her palms, chanting while the moonlight gleamed off the stake and her hair. All in a whirl, she suddenly plunged the stone stake through Silas' heart, pure and true. He gave little more than a gasp as he died, and they watched as his skin turned grey and his veins thickened to show his true supernatural face. He slipped from their grasp to the forest floor, where his body snapped into fragments like stone.

They all let out a collective breath.

"He is here." Gwen said with Qetsiyah's voice, and they knew that she spoke from the Other Side, where Silas must now reside. "Thank you," She murmured to them all, her gaze resting on Caroline, causing Klaus to shift marginally in front of her. Qetsiyah clearly saw the baby vampire as someone of significance to Klaus, and spirit world or otherwise, he would make sure nothing happened to her. She smiled malevolently once more before her eyes faded to their cocoa brown, and Gwen blinked.

"Qetsiyah's gone." She murmured, plucking the talisman from around her neck and dropping it onto the pile of Silas' stony remains.

Eva sighed and let her knees bend, lowering herself to the ground. Kol instantly followed, his hands hovering over the branch that was still lodged in her side.

"Don't bother, I'll do it myself. I was a nurse." Eva reminded him, yet when she pulled on the end of the branch she let out a cry and stopped. "Actually, maybe you can do it." She amended, clutching his arm tightly as he slowly pulled out the rest of her impromptu stake, wincing with every gasp she made.

"I told you something like this would happen, Niklaus." Kol said fiercely, alternating between wide, worried eyes at Eva and glaring anger towards his brother.

"For God's Sake, Kol, I'm fine." Eva growled, still clinging to his arm for support.

"I warned you, and now Eva is injured." Kol ranted, ignoring Eva's protest.

" _You_  will soon be injured if you don't shut your trap." Eva warned, helping him wrench out the branch the rest of the way and grabbing his face between her small hands so he had no choice but to look at her. "I. Am. Fine. Okay?"

Kol was conflicted, but he exhaled through his now healed nose. "Okay," He murmured, pressing his forehead against her temple. Eva closed her eyes at the sweet, gentle gesture.

"I'm so sorry," Gwen said quietly. "He caught sight of me before he was supposed to, and you ended up getting hurt to protect me."

Eva chuckled lightly. "Better me than you."

"Whats that supposed to mean?" Gwen frowned.

"Sweet as it is that you can't see it yourself," Caroline smiled at the brunette to soften the words while Klaus finished her sentence. "Do you really think that Elijah would ever forgive any of us if he came home and found you with a single scratch upon your body, or even a hair missing from your head?"

"He couldn't pay that much attention to detail." Gwen scoffed, though her eyes showed her true emotions – she was both shocked and flattered.

"Lets not test that, shall we?" Kol said, standing and carefully lifting Eva into his arms despite her faint protest.

Gwen set a final resting spell across the pile of rubble that used to be Silas, and the odd family made their way back to the house to call it a night.

Klaus caught Caroline's hand as they walked, drawing nearer to her to ensure that Kol, Eva or Gwen wouldn't overhear them.

"This is why I want to marry you, sweetheart." He breathed quietly, pressing a kiss to the knuckles of her hand that was still specked with Silas' blood. "Life is too short."

"Too short?" Caroline let a small laugh loose into the night despite their macabre situation: the pair of them walking through the woods hand in hand at midnight, dotted in blood – and talking about marriage, of all things. "We have eternity." She reminded him.

Klaus smiled slightly. "That isn't enough time for me."

"Impatient, are we?" Caroline teased. "I thought that was my trait."

"I believe it is shared, now."

She smiled at the simple thought of sharing anything and everything with him. "When do you want to tell your family then?"

"Soon." He replied. "After the cure has been given to whomever it shall be given to and we know that life is as peaceful as it ever can be." Klaus studied Caroline's face. "What about your friends? Your mother?"

Caroline pursed her lips. "I don't know. I want to tell them, but in all honesty I don't care what they think. I have you, and I'm happy."

Klaus knew differently just from looking at her. "Don't lie to me, sweetheart. Their opinions matter to you."

"No, their  _feelings_  matter to me." Caroline corrected, tightening her grip on his hand. "I want them to feel happy for me, but I don't care if they don't think this is right for me, because I know otherwise."

Klaus knew she believed her words to be true, but he still was troubled. He loved her so fiercely that it was impossible to imagine ever being apart from her, and it shocked and startled him. What stunned him even further was the idea that he would gladly do anything for her, when he had never done a single selfless thing for anyone in his entire thousand year existence. He supposed it wasn't selfless – he got such joy and pleasure from seeing her own dreams turned into reality, even from seeing her reactions to everything day to day. Surely when he got such selfish satisfaction from her happiness, it could no longer be classified as a selfless love.

Yet he was very much in love. He would not deny that any longer, it was so set in his very being that he couldn't believe he had not felt that way ever before. Even with Tatia, he had not felt such a level bordering on devotion, affection, wholeness. Klaus supposed it had everything to do with the fact that Caroline was the most decent person he knew, her kindness and compassion balancing his selfish and destructive manners to fill out his hollow little life. That and the almost impossible fact that she returned his love and was unequivocally his only.

He would never understand it. But he was certainly grateful and blessed for his angel.

…

Elijah, Rebekah and Elena returned the next morning. Elena stayed for breakfast but left soon after, despite Caroline's offer for her to stay and chat.

"I'd love to, Care, but I should probably face the drama waiting at the Salvatore house." Elena admitted. Caroline couldn't help but be a little proud that her friend was no longer running away or avoiding confrontation – that she was willing to speak with the brothers, even if it was to say that she was feeling confused still. So she sighed, enveloped Elena in a hug, and waved her off.

Once Elena's car had swung out of the driveway, she turned and went to rejoin the family at the table, prepared to discuss the cure.

"Firstly, may I just state that after all we went through to get the cure, I deserve it." Rebekah stated. "Being near Katerina drives me up the wall. Especially with how she was eyeing you off, Elijah."

Elijah raised his eyebrows. "She was doing nothing of the sort, sister."

She scoffed. "Please, she had that simpering look combined with that annoying swaying walk like she was underwater trying to sashay down a catwalk."

"Well clearly that's enticing." Gwen remarked dryly, running her hand along Elijah's shoulders as she went to place her plate in the sink, her smile indicating that she clearly wasn't bothered by Katherine's attempts.

"Regardless, we now have the cure in our possession." Elijah brought them back to the topic. "And might I suggest we find a use for it before it is used against us?"

"Like me taking the cure to have a shot at humanity?" Rebekah added sweetly.

"You can have humanity and still be a vampire." Eva reminded her, before nodding in Caroline's direction. "She's doing it."

"Thank you." Caroline smiled, before turning her attention back to Rebekah. "Besides, Bekah, if you really had to live without your vampire skills, I don't think you'd enjoy it."

"Really?" Rebekah asked sarcastically. "I'm sure I could."

"Try it, then." Klaus said. "I doubt you'll last a day."

"Done." Rebekah frowned at her brother.

"You're all forgetting something." Kol interrupted. "What happens if you take the cure and you become exactly the age you are – a thousand years old." He smirked. "You won't be getting a husband and family life like any other human if you're a wrinkled old crone."

Klaus and Caroline shared a glance at the mention of husband and family, but it went unnoticed by most of the surrounding vampires, aside from Gwen who nudged Elijah and he in turn nodded.

"Eva, control him, make him bearable." Rebekah whined.

"I can't do that if I agree with him, Beks." Eva shrugged, and dodged the saltshaker that was aimed at her head. It hit the wall behind her with a  _thunk_.

"Bonnie deserves the cure." Caroline piped up before Elijah could open his mouth to chastise his sister.

"Why should the Bennett witch get it and not me?" Rebekah asked.

"She was turned and she never wanted to be a vampire, and its my fault so I have to fix it." Caroline said.

"Get her a fruit basket then, you don't have to make her mortal again." Rebekah said carelessly.

"She's cut off from nature." Caroline continued, frowning at Rebekah's flippant remark.

"And if she's given the cure, she'll go back to square one, with just baby witch abilities." Rebekah retorted.

"You can't know that for sure." Caroline said, her voice tinged with doubt.

"Well if that's the case, then I'd be happy to mentor her." Gwen interjected, and Caroline turned to her hopefully.

"Really?"

"I'd be happy to. Its been a while since I taught someone the art." Gwen said.

"I suppose that brings up a good thought." Elijah said. "Does anyone else want the cure themselves, or think there is someone the cure should be given to?"

Silence reigned around the table.

"Then perhaps we should gather everyones views on whom the cure should be given to." Elijah continued, before turning to Gwen.

"Bonnie." She said simply, before shooting an apologetic view to Rebekah. "Don't get me wrong, but the girl has been cut off from the person she always wanted to be, and you have a family who loves you and wants you around for another millennia."

Rebekah seemed to see the sense in Gwen's words, but she still persisted. "Eva?"

"I honestly don't know enough to say who deserves it." Eva said slowly. "But I can certainly say that I don't want to lose you as a friend. We have too many centuries to catch up on, and I want many more together."

"Elijah?" Rebekah asked her big brother imploringly.

He sighed. "I am torn, Rebekah. How could I not be? Bennett witch aside, how can I ever say that I want my sister to grow old and die, even if it was what she so desired?"

"We've had twenty lifetimes together. And I want to lead a normal life." Rebekah said.

"While that is touching, I can't imagine you enjoying your fleeting moment of human life followed by a swift death." Klaus interjected dryly. "And death is perminant, my dear sister, in case you forgot."

Rebekah shot him a glare. "It also means a fresh start. I can grow old and have a family and fill my days with meaning, knowing that each one matters."

"How poetic." Klaus smirked.

"While I don't share Niklaus' lack of compassion," Elijah sent his trademark very-unimpressed-expression towards Klaus. "I must admit that I share his concern. Rebekah, it is no secret that you are impulsive, emotional, and at times morally questionable."

"He's right, you know." Kol piped up, and Eva and Caroline nodded quickly in confirmation, much to Rebekah's dismay.

"How do you know that being human is the answer you seek?" Elijah continued. "It is a romantic notion, which leads me to believe it is another one of your whims. Prove that you know precisely what you are giving up here."

"I know that it will be a short human life, and I know it will have sickness and strife. But it will have a family. And constant change. And I will change with it." Rebekah said, and she made a compelling argument.

"But you have family now, Beks." Caroline said softly, capturing her attention far better than a raised voice. "You have all of us. You want change – we have all changed. You only need to look around the table to see that. Change doesn't have to be with physical age." She smiled, making light of the situation. "Do you know how many women would kill to be in your position? A thousand years old and still looking young?"

Rebekah let a smile grow on her face at Caroline's joke, but otherwise she contemplated her words.

"Always and forever." Elijah reminded her. "Those words are as important to me today as they ever were."

"And me," Klaus added quietly.

"And me too, Beks." Kol said, for despite not being there for the original statement, it was still true for him. Their family stuck together, always and forever. "Who would I tease for eternity if it wasn't for you? Who would help me get up to mischief?"

Rebekah chuckled, brushing a traitor tear from her cheek. "Right, you have all made your point."

"So what is  _your_  decision?" Caroline asked.

"Always and forever." Rebekah murmured.

…

Bonnie opened her front door to see Caroline beaming on the front porch.

"Want your life back?" She asked, and Bonnie noticed the object she held in her hands.

"How…?" She asked, speechless and unable to continue the question.

"Long story, we got it back from Katherine though." Caroline summarized.

"But Silas…" Bonnie attempted again, still unable to finish the sentence.

"Silas has been taken care of." Caroline said, a serious look flashing on her face for a moment before smiling at her friend again. "He can't take the cure if he's dead, so that means its up for grabs, and I think you get first pick."

"How did you kill him?" Bonnie asked, frowning. "He's the most powerful being."

"Was." Caroline corrected. She glanced back over her shoulder to where Klaus waited against the front gate, well aware of Bonnie's disapproval of him and wanting to respect Caroline's wishes. "It was Klaus' plan really. We found a way to kill him that was close to how we tried to kill them." Caroline shook her head in disbelief, laughing. "Its weird how the world has worked. I never would have thought I'd end up here, but I am, and I'm happy." She looked back at Bonnie. "So do you want the cure?"

"Honestly? Yes." Bonnie said, as if she were admitting the darkest secret she had. "But Elena – "

"Elena doesn't want it. She's talking to the Salvatores right now, but she knows for sure that she doesn't want it. And you deserve it, Bon. You're the number one priority." Caroline encouraged, placing the vial in Bonnie's palm and smiling when her fingers curled around it.

"Thank you." Bonnie whispered, enveloping Caroline in a tight hug. Caroline returned it with just as much strength before slipping away.

"Tell Jeremy I said hi, okay? And tell me how you are when you've taken it. And…just keep in contact, okay?" She smiled once more, a laugh on the edge of her lips at the sheer sunny brightness of their entire situation. Everything was right in Mystic Falls, and while she knew that it rarely lasted, she certainly hoped that it would for a little while.

Caroline turned and walked up the garden path to Klaus, who took her by the hand and walked up the street with her. Bonnie watched them go from her place on the porch, the vial still clasped in her hand. They looked so sweetly in love, so right together, so right for each other. It was near impossible to remember that Klaus was a dangerous monster. But he was. Bonnie tilted her head, regarding them. Yes, he was a monster. But Caroline kept that in check. And he in return challenged her. The light shone a certain way for a second, and Bonnie saw a vision in a flash; of sunlight and happiness, Caroline in a beautiful long dress and Klaus in a tux, people and smiles, and love so sweet that she could almost taste it. The feeling of love and contentment stayed with her long after as she blinked, losing the odd vision just as quickly as it had come.

Bonnie glanced down at the little glass vial in her hand, looked back up to Klaus and Caroline, and with a faint smile, turned back inside the house to find Jeremy and tell him the wonderful news.


	33. Breathless Preparations

"Nik?" Caroline called as she walked through the maze that was the Mikaelson mansion. "Klaus?" She had no patience right now, her patience at almost at an end. She was just inhaling breath to call his name again when she finally walked into the second lounge room and found him sketching by the fireplace.

"Kl-hello? Did you not hear me?"

"Of course I heard you, Caroline. I think the whole of Mystic Falls heard you." He sighed, but he already had a small smirk on his face that took some of the bite out of his words. He looked up at her. "Weren't you on an expedition with Rebekah today? I believe I recall being told that I was not the proper company."

"Your sister is charming, but unbearable." Caroline huffed. "And I have a real crisis on my hands."

Klaus set aside his notebook and stood with his hands clasped behind his back, looking at her expectantly.

"Rebekah is trying to drive me insane, I swear." Caroline ranted, pacing back and forth in front of Klaus. "We have been over the plan and the concept time and time again, and still she keeps complaining about the bridesmaid dress I'm considering for them, and I keep having to go to store after store after store for a wedding dress. I have been looking at dresses forever. And none of them are working." She growled. "This was supposed to be nice relaxed thing! Instead, I want to murder something." Caroline frowned at her words. "Like a pot plant." She elaborated, fighting against her vampire self that really just wanted to rip into something slightly bloodier than a pot plant.

She glanced over to Klaus to find him chuckling slightly.

"It is not. Funny." Caroline said lowly.

"I know, I know." Klaus admitted, laughter still present in his voice.

"Then stop laughing!" Caroline said indignantly.

Klaus opened his mouth, thought the better of it, and shut it, controlling his face into a smile that melted Caroline's icy expression slightly. She couldn't stay mad at him for long. Not when he was doing the puppy face.

"This was meant to be something where we could just be us and celebrate the fact that we'll be together forever," Caroline sighed, pacing again. Klaus stopped her by clasping her gently by the shoulders and waiting for her to meet his eyes.

"It is exactly that." He assured her. "If Rebekah is giving you grief, I'll handle her."

"But its not just that." Caroline sighed, burying her head against his chest. "It's the dresses. They're all boring and overdone and just not right. And I don't want just another dress. I want that whole Princess Grace of Monacco on her wedding day elegant hotness."

Klaus raised her chin gently so he could see her face again. "You outshine the stars when you're simply dressed in a sheet, angel. It won't be a problem."

Caroline smiled at the compliment, but otherwise didn't look too convinced. Her eyes widened with an idea, and she turned the puppy dog look on Klaus.

"Could you please show me the trophy case of family collectables and see if I can dig out something of royal caliber? Like the first dress you gave me for the ball?"

"To be fair, love, Rebekah assisted a little with that too."

Caroline sighed. "Beks is lovely, but I can't stand another minute of her. And I would much rather you show me."

Klaus tilted his head and gave her a smile. "How could I possibly say no to you?"

"You spoil me." Caroline beamed, reaching up on her toes and kissing him.

"I know." He answered, taking her by the hand and leading her back through the maze of rooms.

"I didn't actually think you had a treasure trove." Caroline commented as they walked into a room she had never seen before, floor to ceiling organised knick knacks taking up some of the space. Alongside a large ornate wardrobe, there were a few locked wooden chests, a couple marble statues of characters from Greek mythology, square and rectangular packages that were clearly protected paintings, and – oddly enough – an ornate instrument that she assumed was a lute.

"I'm guessing I should start with the Narnia wardrobe?" Caroline asked, pointing towards the double doored wardrobe and making Klaus chuckle.

"Certainly."

Caroline started towards the doors, then spun around and frowned at Klaus.

"Isn't there some sort of rule against the groom seeing the dress?"

Klaus gave her a look. "I believe there was a superstition around the groom seeing the bride on the wedding day, not the dress. And that custom stemmed from a time when the groom would have an arranged marriage with the bride despite never having seen her before. Do you really want to give into a silly superstition that doesn't apply here, or may I help you search?"

Caroline rolled her eyes affectionately and held out her hand to beckon him over. He took her offered hand, kissed it lightly, and pulled her over to the wardrobe, opening the doors to survey the contents.

Caroline gave a small, quiet gasp. The wardrobe, which was taller than her and far wider to boot, somehow seemed even larger on the inside. And the contents were even more astonishing; costumes and suits and dresses and coats and cloaks from ever decade.

"How did you collect all of this?"

"When you have a millennia to wander the planet, you tend to accumulate items. These are just part of a larger collection we have."

"Wow," Caroline murmured, her hand hesitating towards the gowns. "May I?"

"You needn't ask, love." Klaus said fondly. "What's mine is yours, remember?"

"It'll take some reminding." She replied, carefully moving the hangers to see more of the dresses. Some weren't what she would consider wearable – being from a Victorian era or otherwise – but most would be adequate for anything formal. Lucky for her, white had never gone out of fashion for women of any time, so at least half of the dresses were in white, cream, and ivory.

She pulled out an embroidered monstrosity with bows and that looked like a powder puff.

"Did you steal Marie Antoinette's clothes?"

"I didn't, but Rebekah did." Klaus admitted. "With or without Kol's assistance. He made a game of seducing royalty to distract himself from Eva, and she might have concocted something with him. They did always find it more entertaining when He opened one of the chest and went through the books stacked in there. Caroline spared one glance at the title of one of the books, noting that it didn't look like any language she had ever seen.

"That's not a current language, is it?" She asked, and Klaus looked up at her before smiling. He'd never get over how much she knew and how much she still wanted to know, how much she wanted to discover, to learn. It was something that brought them together and would keep them together.

"No. Its Aramaic."

"Is it a good read?" She questioned, quirking her lips while running her hands over the patterning of the dress.

"You might find it interesting." Klaus said, scanning a couple of pages. " _In bas so-teen-too ara-ma-eet._ "

Caroline looked over at him and he smiled.

"If only you spoke Aramaic." He translated. "I'll teach you one day."

"I'll look forward to it." She said, holding up the dress against her front.

"How do you like Madame Antoinette's taste in fashion?" Klaus asked, perching on a large wooden truck with the newly uncovered books.

"Well this is not my style." Caroline frowned down at the dress, before hanging it up and bringing out the one next to it. "But this…" She held up the gossamer and tulle creation, clearly from the same era and potentially the same owner as the dress previously, but infinitely more lovely.

"Try it on, then." Klaus encouraged, smirking in answer to the look she sent his way before she carefully set down the dress and shrug her jacket off. The book in his hand long forgotten, Klaus watched her while she lifted her shirt over her head. A low rumble sounded in his chest as she slowly unbuttoned her jeans, shimmying out of them before she even realized the effect she was having on Klaus. She threw a smug smile at him over her shoulder before carefully stepping into the large Rococo gown, pulling the ornate sleeves over her shoulders. The fabric settled easily over her every curve.

"Lace me up?" She asked as she turned to see the dress reflected in a gilded full length mirror close to the wardrobe.

Klaus was there in an instant, his fingers slowly threading the corset back of the dress while taking care to brush the skin of her back at every possible moment. Caroline watched his face in the mirror, gaining pleasure from the mere way he enjoyed touching her, from the way he looked at her when he thought she couldn't see how she truly affected him. He finished and tied the cords together, lifting his eyes to catch hers in the mirror, and a jolt of excitement went down her spine as she recognised the dark fire in his deep blue gaze.

"Stunning." He complimented her, and Caroline glanced away from him to regard the dress. It was a princess-like thing, and she felt radiant and ethereal. It was beautiful, but something just wasn't right still.

"Not this one." She shook her head, running her hands over the silver swirls embroidered into the full skirt.

Klaus sighed. "Ah well, I suppose you'll just have to take it off then." He said, his fingers already back at work on the corset.

"Nik," Caroline elbowed him with faux exasperation, gasping as he finished the ties that bound her swiftly, his fingers diving in to brush against the small of her back.

"I…need to find the dress." She murmured, her words doing nothing to hinder his hands exploring the skin of her hips. Klaus nodded in agreeance despite his hands moving up along her ribcage.

"You're quite right, love." He admitted, retracting his hands before he could get to where she wanted him to. Caroline frowned at his reflection. He smirked and leaned over her shoulder to kiss her cheek, his stubble brushing against her smooth skin before he went back to his perch with his books, studying the pages.

Caroline huffed, stepping out of the dress and placing it back on the hanger before returning it to the closet and choosing another one. Half to spite him and his desirous ways, and half because she liked the draped lace sleeves, she chose an Edwardian dress that didn't require his help to put on. She spun experimentally, admiring the way that the lily shaped skirt fanned out. It helped that the silk was a beautiful creamy color that had been preserved very well considering its age. And yet there was still something not quite perfect about it.

"What are you thinking?" Klaus asked, and she glanced up to see him watching her frown, unable to stop looking at her for long.

"It's a good cut, I like how there is less material, but its still not the one." She admitted, doubting that he would truly take interest.

"Try something from the 20s." He suggested, and she raised her eyebrows. "It was only a few decades away from the one you have on now, and I'm certain we have something like it stashed away in there."

Caroline went back to the wardrobe, glancing through the hangers before finding one that must have been what he was talking about. She exchanged the dresses quickly, turning back to examine the sleek 20s dress in the mirror. She could see why Klaus had suggested it – it was a similar style but far slimmer. She turned slightly, and smiled: it was also backless, so no wonder he had recommended she wear it.

"Do you like it?" He asked, rejoining her reflection in the mirror.

"I do," She admitted, admiring the detailed jewels decorating the edges and straps, and the fringing that draped down from where the dress stopped at the small of her back. "But not for the wedding." Caroline smiled at him through the mirror. "You'll have to throw another expensive ball for me to wear this."

"That would be doubtful." Klaus murmured, stroking her bare arms and back and making her shiver again. "I wouldn't want anyone to see you like this."

"No?" She asked, arching back to press against his chest as his hands slipped inside the dress again.

"No." He muttered against her bare shoulder. "This is all for me."

"Only for you." She breathed, tilting her head back and exhaling as he brushed open mouthed kisses along her shoulder to the nape of her neck. The air returned swiftly to her lungs as he sucked lightly on her pulse point, making her gasp, her hand coming up to thread through his curls. Her body ignited further as his hands continued to dip down, circling past her ribs and then past her navel.

"I shouldn't distract you now, should I?" Klaus murmured against her skin before leaving another mark with his mouth after the first one healed so quickly. "I'm a bad influence." He smirked against the racing pulse point in her neck.

"The worst." She agreed, tugging on his roots. "But the sooner we find the dress, the sooner we'll be able to do this properly." Caroline pressed her back even closer to him to emphasize her words.

"Fair point." Klaus ground out, pulling away slightly to kiss the inside of her wrist as she loosened her grip on his hair. "I seem to recall a dress of much more elegant extravagance that you might appreciate. Shall I find it for you?"

"Caro?" Rebekah's voice carried through the halls, and Klaus groaned.

"Too late."

"Its just Bekah." Caroline said, catching Klaus' eye in the mirror again.

"Just wait."

"Caro!" Rebekah called again, tracking down their voices to the room they were in. Her eyes widened when she saw Klaus with Caroline in the white 20s dress.

"Niklaus! What in the bloody hell do you think you're doing?"

"Calm down Beks, he was just helping me." Caroline said defensively.

"He's not allowed to see the dress until you are walking down that aisle towards him." Rebekah ranted, storming over to shoo Klaus away.

"Told you, sweetheart." He murmured to Caroline, before slipping away from her.

"Don't leave me. We're not finished." Caroline pouted, and he pulled her close for one kiss, unable to stay away from her.

"Find me once you're free, sweetheart." Klaus said, before Rebekah pulled him away.

"You'll have time for that later, you lovesick puppies." She said, unable to shift the grin on Klaus' face as he grabbed the leather-bound books and left.

"I'm never going to find it, Bekah." Caroline lamented, turning back to look at the many gowns left to try on.

"Yes you are." Rebekah insisted, attacking the wardrobe in a frenzy. "I should have thought of this one earlier, it must be the one Nik was suggesting to you." She pulled out a gorgeous dress that took Caroline's breath away. "Like it?"

"Love it. It's the one." She smiled. "Its perfect."

…

Caroline, Elena and Bonnie all huddled on the couch munching on popcorn. Bonnie's phone buzzed every other minute, and Elena kept rolling her eyes at Caroline.

"Jeremy wanted to crash here tonight, can you believe it?"

"I don't think he'd enjoy it." Caroline smiled. "Tonight is going to be girl night on steroids."

"I hope that's not literally." Bonnie wrinkled her nose.

"I hope it is." Elena winked, breaking out into laughter with the other two girls.

"How are you two going anyway?" Caroline asked Bonnie, and Elena made a big deal out of covering her ears with her hands.

"Come off it, Elena, we know that you've been fine with it for months." Caroline tapped the other girls arms, and the brunette grinned cheekily.

"Its going really well." Bonnie admitted with a small smile. Ever since she had taken the cure, everything had gone relatively back to normal, fully restoring her relationship with Jeremy. It made her happier than anything, which made her friends happier than anything. "Though we're not anywhere near the stage you and Klaus are."

Caroline smiled, looking down at the blue diamond ring. It had been over six months since she had told the girls on a night much like this at a much needed girls sleepover with just the three of them. It had come out sometime after Bonnie had told her to stop fidgeting and Elena had noticed the odd shape of her necklace under her shirt. Caroline had been trying to find the right time to tell them, and she had blurted it all out in a rush.

_"KlausandIaregettingmarried."_

_"What?" Elena exclaimed, understanding her words even with the rush._

_"Wanna repeat that for those of us who don't have vampire abilities?" Bonnie asked patiently._

_"Klaus. And. I. Are. Engaged." Caroline said a little slower._

_There was silence in the room before Elena spoke._

_"Congratulations," She wrapped her slim arms around Caroline's neck. The blonde spared a look over her shoulder to notice that Bonnie hadn't moved at all, her face blank._

_"Seriously?" Caroline asked Elena._

_"Well, look, I can't say that I think it's the best idea in the world, but I also can't say I'm surprised." She admitted._

_"I certainly was!" Caroline exclaimed._

_"Really, Care? He looks at you like you are the point tying him to this Earth." Elena said simply._

_Caroline flustered before turning to Bonnie. "What's your opinion?"_

_"Honestly?" Bonnie asked, biting her lip. "I don't think it's a good idea."_

_Elena watched as Caroline's face fell, and she realized not only how much her friend wanted this, but how she really cared about Klaus._

_"How about we write about it? Discuss it rationally?" Elena suggested, leaning over the back of the couch to grab a pen and a note pad from the coffee table._

_"Pros and cons?" Bonnie said dubiously._

_"Yes." Elena nodded, tilting her head towards Caroline subtly so that Bonnie would get the message that it was the best way to get inside Caroline's mind._

_"Fine. Con – he's a killer."_

_"Way to make it less harsh, Bon." Caroline frowned, but Bonnie shrugged unapologetically._

_"You need the hard facts, care."_

_"Which is why you also need this. Pro – he truly cares for her."_

_"Con – he's a thousand."_

_"Pro – she's a vampire and so is he."_

_"Con – he's a hybrid."_

_"Pro – he's a hybrid."_

_"Con – you're only eighteen."_

_"Pro – you know you love him, and want to spend the rest of your life with him?"_

_The last statement came out as a question, and the two girls looked at Caroline inquisitively._

_"That's not a question." Caroline said softly. "I love him. I know I want him. I know I will want and love him for the rest of my life, whether it ends tomorrow or never."_

_"How?" Elena asked, and Caroline could hear the curiousity in the girls voice; the doppelganger who had never been able to choose between two brothers simply because she didn't know._

_"Its not something I can explain, 'Lena. I just know. Its something I feel within my chest, and I know that if I tried to move or change it, it would hurt so much I'd want to die. Dramatic, but true."_

_Elena turned to Bonnie, and she looked at Caroline. "I can't argue with that. You have that aura around you. Gwen's been teaching me about them, and yours is so light. I just can't believe its from being with someone like Klaus."_

_"That's because he's not Klaus when he's with me. He's Nik. He's kind and sweet and gentle. And when he's not that, he still shows me that he cares for me and me alone. He fascinates me and challenges me, and I know I'll never find anyone like him, or anyone I want as much as him." Caroline grasped both of them by the hand. "Please believe me. Please support me."_

_The two girls shared a look before gazing back at their blonde friend._

_"Yes, of course."_

_"We love you, Care, always."_

_Caroline sighed, a weight being lifted off her shoulders. "Thank you. I love you both so much."_

_A pause drifted by before Elena changed the subject to something they could all get excited over._

_"Do you have a ring?"_

_Caroline grinned, lifting the necklace over her head and detaching the stunning engagement ring from where it sat next to the tigers eye._

_The two girls gasped, and they leaned in around Caroline's outstretched hand, admiring the diamonds._

"Care?" Bonnie brought Caroline's attention back to the present, and frowned. "Want to tell us whats occupying your thoughts?"

"Aside from your fiancé?" Elena said, batting her eyelashed comically.

Caroline smiled, but sighed. "How are you guys feeling about that?"

"Awful." Elena deadpanned.

"We hate him. And you." Bonnie added, breaking soon after, unable to lie to Caroline. "No, we're excited."

"And it helps that he's made a real effort too." Elena mentioned, and Bonnie nodded in agreement. Klaus had been nothing but a gentleman. He still had a short temper, but Caroline kept him in check subtly in ways that only Elena and Bonnie noticed, and it never ceased to amaze them. The Originals had been friendly too, and the Mystic Falls crew had slowly repaired the broken bonds with the family. Kol had even joined Damon on a few of his bar nights once they had acquitted themselves over the tussle at the ball, and though it was clear that nothing and no one could ever replace Alaric, Kol had managed to entertain Damon and honor Alaric's memory at the same time. The two even seemed to share the same snarky humor, something that never ceased to amaze and scare Caroline.

"Speaking of effort, does anything else need to be done for tonight?" Bonnie asked, and Caroline shrugged.

"I'm not the planner, remember?"

"Well technically Bonnie and I are meant to share duties with Bekah, but…well, you know how she takes over." Elena sighed.

Caroline nodded. Rebekah had taken over all of the planning in her usual fearsome way, and she was happy that she had one less stress to worry about, but also slightly concerned that the Original Blonde was overworking herself. Elena and Bonnie didn't seem to mind not having to worry about larger details of the wedding either, but Caroline still thought Rebekah was going overboard.

The doorbell rang, and Caroline wondered if her mere thoughts had brought Rebekah to the door early. She shot up to answer it before either one of her friends so much as moved. Caroline was surprised to see her mother.

"Sorry, honey, forgot my cell phone." Liz said, striding past her daughter to retrieve her cell from the kitchen. Some old family friends had arrived back in town, and at Caroline's insistence, Liz had gone out on the town with them. She hoped that with Liz occupied enough, she would soon get over the fact that her daughter was engaged.

_"You're eighteen."_

_"You were only twenty when you met my dad, and you married when you were twenty-one."_

_"And look how that turned out, Caroline."_

_"That's different."_

_"How? I don't want you falling into the same trap as I did – being in love with a man who turned out to be different from who you thought he was."_

_"I know exactly who Nik is. I know what he has done, where he has been, who he became and who he is now. And I still love him. I love him, Mom. Please, please, I just need you to accept that."_

Luckily, she had. Liz had eventually come around and given Klaus her blessing in person. Perhaps it had been the notion that her daughter would be protected by the most dangerous creature left on the planet. Or perhaps it was the fact that even Liz could see the love he felt for Caroline. Either way, she had approved, letting him into their lives just as she had let him into her house on that night when Caroline had been bitten.

Liz walked back past Caroline, bestowing a smile on her daughter. She wasn't one for hugs.

"I'll see you later, honey. Have fun tonight."

"Thanks, mom." Caroline smiled, shutting the door behind her. She hadn't even walked back down the hall before the doorbell rang again, and she turned, racing to the door once she realized who was on the other side.

"About time!" Caroline tsked, hugging Rebekah, Eva and Gwen as they all stepped into her house.

"Sorry we're late, we had to pick up supplies and solidify plans." Rebekah said breezily, barging into the living room and kissing Elena and Bonnie hello on the cheek. "Lets get this bachelorette started!"

…

"Is this even what a bachelor party is meant to be?" Kol asked, reclining back in the leather armchair and sipping on the finest bourbon his family owned. Klaus and Elijah looked back at him with mixed expressions of incredulousness and irritation.

"I agree with pretty boy over here." Damon said as he stood with his brother Stefan. "I know that back in the day it used to be a nice get together where we'd all reminise about the days of being young and free, but this is the 21st Century, and we're vampires – we're always young and free. Why don't we live a little…so to speak."

"My brother holds no interest in one of these parties with female dancers cavorting carelessly in their undergarments." Elijah said eloquently. "He feels it is pointless, particularly as a way to celebrate before a wedding."

Klaus glanced appreciatively at his older brother. He had no idea that he would ever receive this kind of support from his family for something of this nature. He recalled telling their whole mismatched family with Caroline.

_"I don't even know where to begin in telling them something like this, Nik." Caroline bit her lip worriedly, and Klaus had kissed it before biting it gently for her, ceasing her troubles with laughter._

_"Leave it to me."_

_Klaus had managed to tell them at the most opportune time, while they all sat around savoring some of the wine that Elijah had brought along from Italy with them._

_"Caroline and I are engaged to be married." Klaus said simply. He had had the class to ensure that none of them had any wine in their mouths._

_Rather than gasps of shock, as Caroline had warned him after she had told Elena and Bonnie, the family reacted in a different way._

_"When did you ask her?" Kol asked._

_"A few weeks ago." Klaus said, his frown deepening as Kol cursed under his breath and handed a fifty dollar bill to Eva._

_"Congratulations to the pair of you." Eva smiled, pocketing the money and smirking smugly at Kol._

_"So wait, you only just asked her?" Rebekah said, her mouth slightly gaping._

_Caroline frowned, but nodded._

_"You haven't been married this whole time?"_

_"Truly, Rebekah?" Klaus scoffed. "You think that we would ever con you out of planning a wedding?"_

_"I assumed I'd get to do the Golden Anniversary." Rebekah said, but smiled. "Fantastic. I cant wait, I won't let you down. Oh, and congratulations."_

_"Thanks." Caroline laughed, lacing her fingers through Klaus'. Their attention turned to Elijah, who had remained silent with Gwen for the whole conversation._

_"Best regards, brother. And welcome to the fold, soon to be little sister. I cannot wait till you are part of the family."_

_"My best wishes to you both." Gwen added simply._

"Well, while I must admit that I do like the amount of actual familial bromance in the room," Damon nodded, and the four men shrugged acceptingly. "I feel as though we could be doing more than simply standing around drinking liquor."

"I have a brilliant idea that I know you'll appreciate, Nik." Kol grinned. "Involving drinking."

…

Caroline hugged the scrapbook that the girls had made while they all sat around playing drinking games, beaming at them. "Thank you!" She squealed, running around to hug them all. At Rebekah's insistence, they had all tracked down photos and written letters and memories for a scrapbook. Elena and Bonnie had clearly had the most, with photos ranging from tree house adventures to first school plays to first school dances to decade dances and Miss Mystic Falls and lunches at the grill. Eva, Gwen and Rebekah had managed to track down some from Caroline's own camera, adding more from the months leading up to the actual wedding.

"I'll treasure it forever." Caroline promised to them.

"You bet your damned ass you will." Rebekah said sharply, making everyone laugh. "Now drink up. There's still plenty of plans for the night in store."

"Oh god, what?" Caroline groaned.

Rebekah smiled. "Hope you're ready to dance the night away. I did my research, and while I didn't get you a stripper, we're definitely going clubbing."

…

"Kol, you are so crass." Stefan scowled, and Damon clapped him across the shoulders.

"C'mon, brother, live a little. Enjoy."

"Klaus, surely you don't want to do this." Stefan asked the hybrid.

"I'm torn, Stefan." Klaus said truthfully. "After this night, I will have only one more before I walk down the aisle and commit myself to Caroline forever. I'm fully prepared to do that, however I know there are some things she will never abide by, and she has given me permission to exercise these for the last time tonight." Klaus frowned, before smiling at his little brother. "But I agree with your suggestion, Kol. Lets indulge in a night of fine dining – women and wine in the way vampires know best."

…

Caroline woke up the next morning rumpled. She shifted slightly so she could get more comfortable, realizing that she was on a mattress. She opened her eyes to look at the ceiling and recognised it as her lounge room. She sensed a warm body to her right and turned to see Rebekah, snoring slightly. Another warm body rolled slightly, shifting the mattress on her left, and she turned onto her back so she could see that Elena was behind her. She raised her head to see that the six of them, herself, Rebekah, Elena, Bonnie, Eva and Gwen, had all crashed together like spoons on the two double mattresses she had dragged into the front room. It was probably for the best. She had had the best night ever and she didn't want to be apart from them and their odd sisterly communion.

Caroline let her mind wander back to the night before. True to Rebekah's plan, they had gone out clubbing and danced the night away. It had been a while since Caroline had gone out and been young and free with the girls, and she had enjoyed the male attention – but she knew it couldn't compare with what Klaus gave her. She just had fun, and it was purely innocent and fun, exactly how she had wanted it to be.

She sighed, nestling into Rebekah's side. The Blonde Original stirred, noticing Caroline and curling into her sleepily. She suddenly sat bolt upright, cursing.

"Shit, shit, shit, is that the time?" Rebekah rubbed her eyes blearily.

"What is it?" Caroline yawned.

"Its time to start getting you ready." Rebekah said, stretching.

"The wedding isn't until tomorrow." Caroline protested.

"Oh, you thought that you were going to spend the day before your wedding relaxing, that's so sweet. No. Prep starts now."

"But I – "

"Prep. Starts. Now." Rebekah warned, before smiling. "It'll be fun!"

Rebekah pulled Caroline up from the mattress before sending her to brush her teeth. When Caroline returned from the bathroom, a team of masseuses and beauty technicians had invaded her home. The girls were up and in the kitchen with the supply of hot coffee and pastries that had been brought in for the occasion.

"Wow, Beks. You know how to spoil a girl." Caroline beamed, pressing a kiss against Rebekah's cheek before she was whisked away.

By the end of the day, Caroline was caught in a dreamy state between exhaustion and relaxation, after being massaged, scrubbed and treated. While the girls lay around chatting and half watching a chick flick on the television, Caroline got a call. She answered without bothering to check the caller id, her lazy state almost making her eyelids droop sleepily.

"Hello?"

"Hello, sweetheart." Klaus' voice purred even through the slight static of the phone. She was awake instantly. "When my sister asks who you're on the phone to, tell her it's the florist talking about arrangements for tomorrow."

"What are you planning?"

"Caro," Rebekah piped up with suspicion in her voice. "Who's that?"

"Told you," She could practically hear Klaus' smirk through the phone.

"It's the florist, Samantha." Caroline lied, before standing up and walking towards the kitchen under the guise of getting a glass of water. "Go on," She told Klaus.

"I just wanted to call, see what you were up to. Has Rebekah tortured you in every imaginable way?"

"Of course." She responded lightly, trying to keep it minimum to mimic what she would say on the phone to the actual florist.

"And do you wish you could escape?"

"Just a little."

"Then come see me." His voice was silkily persuasive, but she needed no persuading. A day without seeing him was torture.

"Where?" She asked, reigning in the excitement that mounted just at the thought of seeing him.

Klaus chuckled. "Think back to where it all began, and you'll know where I am. See you soon, angel."

The line clicked and the call ended, and Caroline almost growled in frustration before faking the rest of the call.

"Of course, I'll be over there as soon as I can. Now? Fine, just as long as I can get this sorted." She strode back into the room to slip on her shoes and coat.

"I'll be back soon." She told the girls, who were currently painting each others nails.

"What's wrong?" Elena asked, noting Caroline's hyped mood instantly.

"The florist got the wrong shipment. She was going to just 'wing it', but I'd rather go over and see to it myself." Caroline said irritably, feigning it perfectly down to the furrow in her brow.

"I can come with." Bonnie offered, and Caroline smiled, but shook her head.

"You all have wet nails. Don't worry, I'll handle this one myself."

"You sure?" Rebekah asked, and Caroline gave her a look that made her nod in agreement. Caroline was organizer extraordinaire, and it was her wedding. If she had nerves, better that she soothe herself with organisation.

"I'll be fine. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Caroline walked quickly, knowing exactly where he would be. When she reached the tree, he was nowhere to be seen or heard, so she climbed up and perched in exactly the same place she had sat on her eighteenth birthday. It hadn't been that long ago, and yet it felt like forever and a day since then. She remembered it all, the feeling of being stuck, the thought that the rest of her eternal life would be diminished to living her small town life. And then his appearance, where she had been both shocked and swept by him, how he had over time consumed her mind, body and soul.

Just like that fateful day, she heard someone appear at vampire speed. Caroline looked over her shoulder to where she had first really seen him, and there he was, perched like no time had passed. Like they were both still the age old hybrid and the baby vampire, both strangers, both intrigued. They were still somehow the same, yet different.

Klaus smiled truly at her, and she knew everything had changed for the better.

"Hello, love."

"Hello, stranger." She smiled back, moving quickly over to him and enveloping herself in his embrace. "I missed you."

"I don't understand why we can't spend tonight together." He admitted, and Caroline chuckled into the collar of his shirt.

"Because its bad luck, and a terrible superstition for the groom to see the bride until she's walking down the aisle. Not to mention your sister and her organizing."

"We've had enough bad luck." Klaus said. "There's a couple hours left till it is indeed tomorrow, we can see if the rumors are true."

"I'd rather not tempt fate, thanks." Caroline said, gently tugging on his shirt in a reprimand.

"Do I want to know what happened at your party?" Klaus asked slowly.

"Not much." Caroline admitted, thinking of the desirous looks men had sent her way. She had been literally surrounded by her girls all night, and no man had attempted to get past five other beautiful women to get to her. "Aside from laughing, dancing, drinking, having fun, and missing you so much it hurt. Do I dare ask about bucks night?"

Klaus thought back to the women Kol had brought into the party. No one had made any untoward moves, they had all merely sipped at the blood and the wine all night. He knew how Caroline felt about feeding from humans, and knew that she had said he didn't have to tell her about that aspect of his life. "You needn't know details farther than the fact that everything we did was approved by Elijah."

"Then I know it was fine." Caroline giggled, and Klaus drew her tighter into his body, burying his nose in her curls.

"Remind me again why we have to be apart?"

"Bad luck." Caroline murmured into his shirt, her hand winding around the medallions of his necklaces.

"When I decided to spend the rest of my life with you, I didn't plan on having any of that future time apart from each other." Klaus huffed. "I want you to stay."

"Don't tell me that." Caroline sighed, burrowing further into his embrace and placing her lips at his neck to brush across a sensitive path of nerve endings. "Or I'll be tempted to give in to your wants and stay, and that won't make Rebekah happy at all."

"I'm sure she'll get over it." Klaus pulled back to look into her eyes, his thumb stroking her cheek as if it was glass, something precious and delicate. "I love you, Caroline." He said softly.

"I love you too." She said just as quietly, before cracking a small smile. "I would seriously hope we loved each other when we're getting married tomorrow."

"It's a reason to, but it doesn't stop me from saying it. I don't tell you often enough."

"Those three words are said too much anyway. I like when you say it, I know they're real."

"They always will be real." Klaus promised her. Caroline kissed him, their lips moving sweetly against one another's like it was the first kiss. If anything, it was one of the last before they were husband and wife. The next time they would see each other, they would be stating their vows in front of a small crowd of people they knew, to truly state their love and commitment. It was enough to make anyone nervous. But that wasn't the reason why they didn't want to leave each others company. They never wanted to be apart again.

"I'd better go." Caroline said with regret as she broke away from him. He pressed another kiss to her lips, making her forget why she had to leave, but he pulled away again.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Klaus said with a crooked smile before pulling something out of his pocket. "And I hope you'll wear this."

Caroline opened the familiar box and smiled. "I can't believe you remembered."

"Of course I did."

Nestled in the box was the bracelet he had given her on her eighteenth birthday, on the night that he had saved her in his messed up way, the night that he had shown his soul, his dark and light sides to her all in one. She remembered throwing it back at his feet on the night of the Mikaelsons ball, and she was truthfully happy to have the quietly beautiful bracelet back.

"I hope you will keep wearing the bracelet this time." Klaus smirked.

"I will." She promised, smiling up at him. "Thank you."

He cupped her jaw and kissed her one last time. "See you tomorrow, angel."

Caroline walked slowly back up the street to her house with a silly smile on her face, fiddling with the bracelet on her wrist.

"I wont tell if you wont."

Caroline jumped and Eva chuckled.

"Sorry, Carolina, didn't mean to startle you so."

"Its fine," Caroline said, exhaling. "But what do you mean?"

Eva gave her a look. "I know who you saw."

"The florist about the new arrangements, I already told you." Caroline said innocently.

Eva folded her arms. "Really? Then what are the new flowers going to be tomorrow?"

Caroline paused, and fidgeted with the bracelet again. "The same that I had planned earlier."

"Yeah." Eva raised an eyebrow. "So busted. You were with Klaus."

"Don't tell them." Caroline pleaded.

"I wont." Eva promised. "Besides, where do you think I just was?"

Caroline smiled and linked hands with the girl to walk back inside the house. They carefully walked in to find the girls already asleep on the mattresses. Not wanting to disturb them, Caroline motioned for Eva to follow her. They slipped off their shoes and tiptoed to her old bedroom.

"You'll have to tell Bekah tomorrow that you were able to wrangle the right flowers from Samantha." Eva warned quietly. "And say that Klaus already gave you the bracelet to wear for the wedding weeks ago."

"I know. You'll have to back me up." Caroline sighed, climbing into the bed and toying with the diamonds, making them sparkle even in the dim light.

"Are you nervous?" Eva asked, settling in on the other side and yawning as she nestled down into the pillow.

"No." Caroline said. "Not really."

"Not really?" Eva repeated.

"I keep thinking of that conversation we had at the ball in Italy. Where we agreed that while we might like the Mikaelsons, we didn't know how we felt about being with them for all eternity? And I get scared, because even though I still feel that way sometimes, I know that I don't want eternity without Klaus." Caroline sighed. "I must be crazy."

"Yes. But a good kind." Eva smiled. "You really love him, don't you."

"I really do." Caroline smiled, before turning over to look at Eva. "And you really love Kol, don't you."

"Oh, now we're going to turn it on me." Eva rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I do. But I keep waiting for something to go wrong. It did every other century."

"Doesn't mean it will now." Caroline reminded her. "What if nothing goes wrong?"

"Then we continue on the way that we are now." Eva said simply. "I can't see Kol settling down, can you?"

"I give it a century." Caroline answered. "Would you want to settle down?"

"I did once." Eva said quietly.

Caroline waited for her to continue.

"Before I was turned, I was married to a lord. I liked being married, but it was very different back then. I was very different back then. But settling down with Kol? Like any of the Mikaelsons would be the type to 'settle'. I'm surprised Klaus is."

"So was I." Caroline admitted. "But then again, I wasn't. Despite his ways, he can be a gentleman. And I think he likes the idea of knowing that he has me. I know that I feel that way."

"You are so much more ready for this than I was." Eva noted. "And I was just sixteen when I got married, so not much different."

"Being with a Mikaelson makes you age in crazy ways." Caroline said, and Eva laughed softly.

"Quite right."

"Eva?"

"Mmm?"

"Am I really ready for this?"

Eva could sense the jitters in Caroline's voice, and she could relate. It had nothing to do with the person waiting for you at the end of the long walk down the aisle, and it had everything to do with the nervousness of declaring your love in front of your family and friends.

"Everyone thinks you are. I know you are. Klaus adores you more than anything, and its so wonderfully astounding to see what you bring out in him. And he does the same for you, bringing out your fire and compassion. You belong together for eternity. You don't need a ring to prove that, but knowing that you'll be linked to him forever has got to be a good feeling. And your friends want to see you happy, and I can promise you that you will feel the happiest you've felt in your life tomorrow."

Caroline was silent for a moment, processing Eva's words. "You promise?"  
"Do you doubt me?"

"I don't doubt you or the fact that Klaus makes me happy."

"Good."

"Thank you, Eva."

"You're always welcome, Carolina." Eva pulled the covers up over her shoulder. "Now sleep, and sweet dreams."

"Goodnight," Caroline murmured, before closing her eyes to let sleep overtake her, all her stress floating away into the night.


	34. Forever

Caroline had been plucked, pummeled and powdered. She had been relaxed and prepped and yet nothing could contain the excitable jitters in her stomach. She paced back and forth in her old bedroom, knowing that when she walked out the door, she would be leaving her old life behind her. She ran her hands over the trinkets on her dressing table, smiling at the memories they brought. She gathered up some of the items she wanted to keep – the album the girls had made, the first teddy her parents had given her, Klaus' drawing. She had no idea where she would keep them, but she needed to keep them somehow.

A knock at the doorway made her spin around to see Bonnie and Elena, dressed in their pale aqua bridesmaid dresses. They smiled happily upon seeing Caroline.

"You two look amazing!" Caroline exclaimed, pleased at how the color had suited both of the girls. She had made a good call in choosing bridesmaid dresses of the same color but different cut. Plus she liked the idea that the pale aqua carried: the unity of stormy green of the sea and pale light blue of the sky. It suited her and Klaus to a t.

"Pshh, forget about us, you're gorgeous!" Elena waved off the compliment, coming over to hug her.

"You look beautiful, Care." Bonnie added, walking over to hug her as Elena fixed the veil that hung from Caroline's elaborately plaited hair so it draped properly across where her hair dropped into curls.

Caroline patted the beading on her dress, fidgeting with everything despite the fact that it was perfect.

"Its fine, Care." Bonnie clasped Caroline's hands in hers warmly.

Caroline exhaled slowly. "I know." She smiled at her two best friends before enveloping them both in a tight hug. "Thank you, both of you."

"We love you, Care." Elena murmured where she pressed against her shoulder.

"Which is why we're going to let you go before we wrinkle anyone's dress." Bonnie nodded, and they all broke apart with a laugh, smoothing down their dresses.

"Did you ever think it would end up like this?" Caroline asked them.

"Maybe not like this." Elena admitted. "But I'm happy that it is, cause its easy to see that you're happy."

"We all knew you'd be the first to get married out of all of us anyway." Bonnie smiled. "Each dance you planned was like a practice run of your wedding."

"True, but they rocked." Caroline shrugged, giggling with the girls.

"And I have every faith it will be the same now." Elena said, offering her hand to Caroline. "You ready?"

She took a deep breath. "Yeah. Lets go."

The three girls linked hands to walk out of her old bedroom for the last time.

Rebekah was waiting for her at the foot of the stairs, in another variation of Bonnie and Elena's dresses. Eva stood next to her in a soft chiffon navy dress, and Gwen was beside her in dark purple silk. Without meaning to, they had all managed to fit together. Caroline smiled at their reactions despite the fact that they had seen her get her make up and hair prepped only an hour previously.

Rebekah smiled sincerely, blinking a few times.

"Is that a tear I see, Beks?" Caroline teased, and the girl tried to frown.

"No. its just the light hitting the ridiculous amount of beading on your dress and stinging my eyes." Her words were not half as hurtful as they could have been because she irritably brushed at her eyes. "And its ruining my make up." She smiled and hugged Caroline. "You look fabulous, as I knew you would."

"She's right." Liz's voice sounded from behind Caroline, and she turned to see her mom with the proudest expression on her face. It brought tears to Caroline's eyes. All she had wanted to do was make her mother happy, and this was the best reaction she had ever received from her.

"Mommy," Caroline bit back her tears and hugged her mom tightly. Liz wasn't the type to cry, but she did look like she almost could have.

"You look beautiful, honey." She pulled back to kiss her daughters cheek. "I'm so proud."

"Thanks." Caroline half chuckled. "You look great too." She was fairly certain it was one of the few times she had seen her mom wear a dress, and Liz didn't look too out of place in the simple dark grey dress. Regardless, her mom wasn't used to the compliment, and she waved it off.

"We're going to be late if we stay any longer." Rebekah reminded them all, before opening the door. Caroline stepped out and gasped at what was parked out the front of her house. A horse drawn carriage. Of course.

"Don't look at me, this was all Nik." Rebekah said, before smiling. "Though I might have had a little bit to do with it."

They carefully climbed into the open top carriage, and the driver began the short trip through the streets. Caroline watched as Gwen and Bonnie chatted quietly – the two had hit it off and she knew that Gwen would be a big influence to bring Bonnie back to the light side of witchcraft. Rebekah and Elena were reminiscing about the trip to New York, intending on making a return trip together sometime. Eva made Liz feel comfortable with her charming small talk and polite questions. Life was fitting together somehow. Life was perfect.

And it was about to get even more so.

The carriage came to a stop out the front of the Mikaelson mansion, and the ladies climbed out just as carefully as they had climbed in, ensuring that their dresses didn't catch. Caroline laughed as they practically lifted her down from her perch to make sure nothing ripped or snagged.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." She assured them, and they all walked up the steps to the house. It was pandemonium in the hall, but Caroline still was entranced by the lanterns strung everywhere and the sheets of white chiffon draped down the banisters. It already looked magical, and it would look even more beautifully dark once the ceremony had finished and the reception began. Caroline caught her breath as the ceremony came back to the front of her mind, and she touched the engagement ring that now rested on her right ring finger, leaving her left ring finger bare and ready for the wedding band that was still hidden from her. She had agreed with Klaus to not disclose the rings to one another, both stating that they had creative meaning behind their decision that could wait till the day of the wedding.

Well, that day was now.

She tuned back in as she spotted Rebekah ranting at the poor florist who had arrived to place more fresh flowers in the space.

"Those flowers go in the back, as indicated by the floral chart that you had plenty of time to memorize." Rebekah exclaimed, and Caroline laid a calming hand on her shoulder.

"Can you please put these flowers in the back? If you can't remember where they are meant to go, I made a few spare copies of the charts that should be on the table by the front door." Caroline said sweetly to the flustered girl. She smiled gratefully at her, and nodded.

"Of course, miss. You look incredible."

"Thank you." Caroline smiled, before taking Rebekah by the shoulders as the girl left. "Its going to be fine."

"But the caterer is running behind and there are a couple of string light bulbs that have already blown, and – " Rebekah huffed, before shaking her head. "No. You're right. Its fine."

"Thanks, Beks."

"We're going to go see the groomsmen before the ceremony starts." Gwen interjected quietly, before slipping her arms around Caroline's waist and giving her a gentle hug. "You look amazing, as I'm sure everyone's already told you. Klaus is going to be the luckiest man alive today."

"And every day." Eva interjected with a smile to the witch before gripping Caroline's hand, her excitement only heightening Caroline's. "Nervous?"

"Gee, just a little, Eva, thanks." Caroline said sarcastically.

"You have no need to be." Eva assured her.

"But you already know that." Gwen added with a small smile.

"We'll go keep Klaus in line. His stress levels are going to be high today, and it'd be nice if no one died." Eva joked, squeezing Caroline's hand reassuringly one last time before she and Gwen walked through the halls towards the garden.

"Bouquets are here." Elena piped up, passing the smaller bunch of cream roses to Rebekah and the large arrangement of cream and pale pink roses to Caroline.

"Its time to start moving towards the aisle." Bonnie reminded them quietly, and Caroline felt a sudden wave of nerves sweep down her arms and legs, twisting her stomach into knots.

"Care? Here, let me fix your veil again." Elena said, eyeing the blonde knowingly while she took her hand and led her over to one of the mirrors in the hall.

"Something wrong?" She asked Caroline quietly, knowing that this was as private a conversation as they could have right now.

"I'm fine." Caroline lied, and sighed as Elena gave her a knowing look. "I'm just suddenly very aware of the fact that I'm going to be walking down an aisle in front of everyone I know very soon."

"Everyone supports your decision, Care." Elena assured her. "I support your decision."

"Really? He did awful things, 'Lena." Caroline said, her brow wrinkling with worry.

Elena smoothed the lines with her thumbs. "And we did awful things too, Care. No one's completely in the right anymore. I don't know if I can forget what happened. But I can forgive him for some things. Because he makes you happy, Care. Its why we're all here. It's the best reason for it too." Elena smiled, straightening the veil again. "Got it?"

"Got it." Caroline said, her stomach still in knots. "I don't deserve you."

"Hey," Elena frowned. "I don't want to hear you say that again, promise?"

"Promise."

"Love you, Care."

"Love you too, 'Lena."

The pair walked over to where they were waiting by the doors to start the walk down the aisle. Caroline stood with her hands linked to Bonnie and Elena's until the Mikaelson brothers in suits and matching pale aqua ties appeared from the double doors.

"Wow,"

"You are a vision, Miss Forbes."

"Thank you, Elijah." Caroline smiled, but the appearance of her two soon to be brother-in-laws made her nerves grow. "And I'll take that as a compliment, Kol."

"You should." The younger Mikaelson brother grinned.

"How's Nik doing?" Caroline asked, her brow wrinkling again. This time, Bonnie was the one to touch it so she stopped.

"He's doing just the same as you." Kol said honestly. "Flying high as a kite and then worrying."

"He'll be at ease the sooner he sees you." Elijah assured her.

Stefan popped through the doors. "Everyone ready?"

"Almost." Elijah nodded, before offering his arm to Elena. She smiled one last time at Caroline before letting go to walk with the charming Original.

"My lady." Kol said dramatically to Bonnie, who rolled her eyes with a smile to Caroline before taking Kol's arm.

"You're beautiful, Caroline." Stefan beamed at her, and she smiled at her old friend, enveloping herself into his arms for a much needed hug. "Everything okay?" He murmured, careful to ensure that her veil didn't crinkle under his touch.

"Caro-pop?" Rebekah asked her quietly, and she clutched onto the Original Blonde's arm.

"I need a moment."

Rebekah watched her face with wide eyes, nodding and moving the bride over to one of the nearby armchairs dotted around the main hall.

"Beks, I'm so scared right now, and I don't know why." Caroline confessed in an undertone.

"I can't blame you. You're marrying my brother. This is the man who terrorized your friends, who has been cruel to every member of his family at least once during his existence. He's never been a good man, Caroline." Rebekah waited until Caroline's eyes met hers before she continued. "But he wants to be one for you. And he tries so hard to do that for you. He has become the man we all knew him to be under the surface – stubborn, irritable, and conceited, but also caring and loyal – and that's all thanks to you. You bring out the best in him, and I know that's scary because it also means you have to face the worst in him, but isn't it worth it?"

"It is." Caroline exhaled, her stomach losing some of its nervous tension. "You're right."

"I know I am." Rebekah smirked, returning back to her older ways now the crisis was averted. "And besides, then we'll be real sisters. It'll be nice to have a girl in this insane family."

Caroline laughed, and hugged her. "Thank you."

"Ready, honey?" Liz asked, waiting a polite distance away from the two girls. Caroline nodded, settling her dress one last time before standing up and joining her mother for the long walk down the aisle.

.

Klaus hadn't anticipated this.

He had been fine. He had been happy. It was a welcome idea, marrying Caroline and ensuring that she would be by his side forever, his queen as he ruled the world. And yet he didn't anticipate the sudden burst of nervous energy in his stomach as the small gathering of people who knew Caroline and the very few invited guests from his side all sat down in their seats. It only grew as Kol and Elijah left him to go take the bridesmaids down the aisle.

"You alright, Klaus?" Stefan, his best man, asked him.

"Fine, mate." Klaus replied stiffly.

"You sure? Cause you look like you're about to break something." Stefan said, a hint of worry in his tone.

Klaus shot him a deadly look. "I am fine." He said darkly, his very tone indicating that he was not actually fine at all.

"Caroline will be coming down the aisle in less than five minutes. Everything will be okay."

"I'm well aware of that, thank you very much." Klaus snapped, before inhaling slowly and exhaling with even more languorous breath. "I apologize."

"I understand." Stefan said, the wordless acknowledgement passing easily between them. Klaus was wrapped around Caroline's finger, completely at her mercy, and it was a petrifying thought for any man. Especially one who relied on his power and fearsome strength to get by.

"Just remember that you are a king." Stefan murmured encouragingly, before warmly clapping Klaus once on his shoulder and leaving to collect Rebekah to walk down the aisle.

Klaus was left infinitely and utterly alone.

But he knew it wouldn't be for long.

For his queen was on her way to see him, and she would never leave his side again.

The sun shone down warmly on the ceremony. The guests could admire the expanse of the green grass and blooming gardens, yet they all alternated between watching Klaus and watching the double doors that led from the mansion out to the garden. The justice of the peace, for the pair had agreed that anyone from the church just went against who they were now, stood nearby.

Finally, the doors opened. The wedding party made their way down the grassy aisle.

First came Elena and Elijah, walking in sync down the aisle. Klaus felt a smile grow at the sight of his brother with the doppelganger in such an idealistic scene. Elijah shared a small smile with Elena before they parted ways at the end of the aisle, Elijah going to stand on Klaus' side.

Next came Bonnie and Kol, with the former holding back laughter at a comment the latter had made. They nodded to each other as they parted ways, and Klaus caught sight of Kol winking at Eva sitting with the guests when he came to stand beside his brother.

Finally Stefan and Rebekah walked down the aisle, the best man and the maid of honor. Despite their attempts to keep the focus on the guests, the pair still managed to share a small, secret smile with each other no less than six times before they stood on opposite sides of the aisle.

Klaus didn't know if they continued to do so, for he only had eyes for the woman who followed them.

Caroline walked down the aisle with Liz in place of her father. And she was truly a vision. A gift from heaven. He knew the dress would suit her well with its elegant strapless cut, the dress clinging to her every curve before fanning out above her knees to allow her enough ease of movement, and he knew she would be attracted to the detail and elaborate beading. He never could have predicted quite how mesmerizing she would look in the dress, however, and he was happy to have his expectations completely exceeded. He noted with pride the necklace she wore, the bead bracelet she had on one hand and the diamond bracelet she wore on the other – all gifts he had given her. He met her light blue gaze that hid beneath her thin veil, and he was lost and found all in the one breath. Klaus smiled so brightly at her.

Caroline returned it, suddenly giddy with happiness. Klaus looked impossibly dapper, dressed in a tux similar to the one he had worn at the Mikaelson's ball over a year ago. Everything from the deep dark black of his jacket to the different white tie, from his dimpled smile verging on a smirk to his burning gaze, it all sang out to Caroline in a way that was dangerous and dark and yet completely all for her. And all good for her. He was good for her. He was the only one for her. No other.

Caroline turned to her mother at the end of the aisle, kissing her cheek through the almost transparent veil, before Liz placed her hand into Klaus' outstretched palm and joined Eva and Gwen in the front row.

The congregation sat down and the justice of the peace began the ceremony. It was all a slight blur as Klaus and Caroline gazed at each other, caught up in a moment that they knew would last forever.

Finally it came time for the vows.

"I, Caroline Forbes, take you, Niklaus Mikaelson, to be my lawful husband. I love you for yourself. I promise to give you the best of myself. I choose you above all others. to share my life with me in marriage, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for as long as we both shall live."

"I, Niklaus Mikaelson, take you, Caroline Forbes, to be my lawful wife. I love you for yourself. I promise to give you the best of myself. I choose you above all others. to share my life with me in marriage, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for as long as we both shall live."

"Do you have the rings?"

Stefan and Rebekah stepped forth to present the couple with the rings. Caroline went first, slipping a dark ring streaked with thin veins of gold onto Klaus' left ring finger.

"With this ring, I thee wed."

Klaus carefully placed a ring on Caroline's finger that made her gasp. It was his daylight ring, the ring that he had worn for over a thousand years, resized for her small ring finger.

"With this ring, I thee wed."

"Niklaus and Caroline have declared their love and commitment to each other by the giving and receiving of the rings. In the sight of this congregation you have vowed to remain together till the end of your days. By the witness of these people, and by the power vested in me by the state of Virginia, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss."

Klaus drew Caroline tenderly towards him, lifting the thin veil that lay between them and tilting her head up to meet his in a kiss so sweetly adoring that it took her breath away. She broke the kiss and looked up at him for a long moment before smiling and kissing him again, fiercely, her hands tugging slightly at the lapels of his jacket. The guests cheered.

.

After the long reception line as the guests congratulated the newly wed couple,the wedding party had their photos taken and made their way inside, where the ballroom of the mansion had been transformed into an elegant dining area lit by bright candlelight and lanterns. While the party broke off into conversations, Klaus and Caroline finally got a moment alone in the hall before they were announced into the room.

"I love you,"

"I love you,"

They grinned wordlessly at one another before Caroline held up her left hand.

"I cannot believe you gave me your daylight ring!"

"I remembered how much you appreciate sentiment." Klaus smiled at her. "And I like the idea of giving you something that aided my existence for so long, for without that, I might not have lived to meet you. And now it can be a little reminder of how I will protect you forever."

Caroline held him close, words not being enough to describe her emotions.

"May I ask for the thought behind my ring?" Klaus enquired.

"I'll allow you to take it off just this once." Caroline smiled, wiping away the tears that had sprung to her eyes. Klaus wiped away one she had missed, kissing her cheek dry too before slipping off his ring.

"The outside represents your soul, and the inside represents what you only show to me." Caroline explained.

Klaus noted the faint lines of gold that streaked across the dark metal of the ring. The inside was a brighter gold color, gleaming even in the faint light.

"Read the inscription." She said quietly.

His sharp eyes picked it out instantly.  _Forever_. So simple. And yet that, combined with what she truly thought of his gold soul, set a lump in his throat that made it hard for him to swallow. He looked upwards, away from Caroline for just a moment, not wanting her to see him affected like this. But her hands against his stubbled cheeks made him meet her gaze again, and he saw how grateful she was to draw the emotions from him, and how she appreciated him not turning away from her, showing her his full self.

"I love you," She murmured.

"You are everything to me." Klaus answered, for nothing he could ever say would effectively convey the full-hearted love he felt for this one girl, and he knew he would try every day until their last days together to show her just how much she consumed him.

They kissed, their emotions being conveyed through their actions for a moment, until the call came.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present for the first time, Mr and Mrs Mikaelson."

The two walked out hand in hand to the applause of the party and took their place in the centre of the floor for their first dance.

_You, you, you, you_

Klaus spun her out before bringing her back to hold her close against his body, swaying them in time to the slow music.

 _You send me_  
Darling you send me  
I know you send me  
Honest you do

Caroline closed her eyes, her fingers weaving and interlocking with Klaus', never to part. He rested their entwined hands above his heart, knowing just how much she enjoyed his steady heart beat under her hand, a reminder of the one piece of humanity reserved solely for her.

 _At first I thought it was infatuation_  
But its lasted so long  
And now I find myself wanting  
To marry you, and take you home

Caroline placed her head on Klaus' shoulder, resting her lips against his neck to feel his pulse and his breath right under her skin and his. His fingers stroked the curls that fell down her back from her half plaited hairstyle, brushing against the edge of her dress as he did so.

 _You thrill me_  
I know you thrill me  
Darling you thrill me  
Honest you do

Klaus' hand tugged lightly on the ends of her hair, and Caroline opened her eyes and lifted her head to look at him as they slowly spun across the floor under the affectionate gaze of the people they knew. It was all still a blur to them. It didn't matter. All that mattered was them, the connection that could never be broken between them, the love that bound them and the fire that would never be lost or tamed.

 _At first I thought it was infatuation_  
But its lasted so long  
Now I find myself wanting  
To marry you and take you home  
You send me  
Darling you send me  
I know you send me  
Honest you do  
Honest you do

Klaus dipped Caroline as the last notes echoed through the room, and she pressed her lips lightly against his before beaming as they returned to a standing position.

"Lets here it for the happy couple!" Kol announced, leading the applause. He handed the microphone to Caroline, who with Klaus by her side, cleared her throat.

"We just wanted to take this opportunity before you take advantage of the open bar to thank you all for being here today." She laughed lightly along with the guests. "Its been a wild journey to get here, and I have no doubt that it will be even wilder from here onwards, so I would like to thank everyone who has stuck with us for the adventure. Hope to see you for many years to come."

"In particular, I'd like to acknowledge the sacrifice of our families." Klaus added sincerely. "Liz, you have graced this earth with the most incredible woman I know, and I'd like to thank you for allowing me to know her. As to Caroline's close friends, I want to thank you for your understanding and acceptance. It means the world to Caroline, and it means even more to me." H nodded at the Mystic Falls crew respectfully before turning to his family. "Finally, I would like to thank my family for welcoming Caroline with open arms, and encouraging me to love, despite all the odds."

Caroline bit back a laugh and pressed closer against his side, handing him a glass of champagne to finish the toast.

"Cheers." They said in unison, raising their glasses to their guests.

"Now please everyone enjoy the delicious meal. There's plenty more in store after dinner." Bonnie announced, allowing the noise of polite chit chat to fill the room once more as she turned to Caroline.

"You're impossibly sweet." She shook her head with a smile, embracing her and sparing a careful thankful smile for Klaus before leading the pair over to the table.

In between countless courses of delicacies, it seemed as if everyone they knew had a few words to say in a toast to the newlyweds.

"I don't know what to say." Kol chuckled. "Aside from the fact that I still don't understand how my brother – my irritating, infuriating, inconsiderate brother – ended up with Caroline – one of the kindest, sweetest, loveliest people I know. Not to mention that she's out of his league. Actually, darling, why  _are_  you with my brother?" He paused as the guests laughed, and Caroline coaxed a smile out of Klaus. Kol spotted it instantly and pointed it out. "See? That's why. Because your kindness brings out his better temper. Your care brings out his care. And your light moderates some of his darkness. Just some," He emphasized, before smiling at them. "But its enough. And when a pair works like that, well, why wouldn't you want to give it your best shot in the chance that you might end up as ridiculously happy as you both are today?" Kol's eyes flitted over to Eva for a beat and they shared a heart-stopping smile before he raised his glass. "To the ridiculously happy couple."

"I've known Care since we were five." Bonnie began. "She was the one in the sandbox bossing people around, but delegating the toys so everyone got a turn with the cool shovel. Not much has changed since then." She smiled. "Now, on the other hand, when I met Klaus…it wasn't quite as, well, picturesque. But plenty has changed since then." She addressed the guests, her gaze zeroing in on Jeremy for a moment as she reflected on her words. "I never would have guessed that you two would hit it off, or that we would end up where we are today." She looked back at Klaus and Caroline, sitting together with their hands linked like they would never let go. "But just one look at you, Care, and how much you are glowing right now, and I wonder how this didn't happen sooner. Either way, I'm glad it did." Bonnie kept her eyes locked on Caroline's. "I'm glad it did."

"Caroline, ever since you came into the world, I knew you were trouble." Liz began. "I've watched you grow into the strong, smart, beautiful woman that I knew you would be from the moment you were born. And it's a very bittersweet thing for me to experience, witnessing you finally become a woman and a wife and seeing you pass from my care to Klaus' care. But at the same time, I know that he will love you unconditionally. Klaus, I have given you my one and only daughter, and I ask that you take care of her. I also advise you that I am a sheriff, and I know how to use a gun." The guests laughed, and Klaus smiled, but nodded to Liz, conveying his message perfectly. He would protect Caroline with his life, and she knew that. "Care, honey, I am so glad that I am here to see this day. And I know that your father is here to see it too." Caroline bit her lip, and Bonnie on her other side gripped her hand to show her that indeed, Bill Forbes stood beside Liz on the small stage. "And I want to wish you all the happiness in the world from both of us."

"Klaus and I met a long time ago." Stefan said with a small smirk, skimming over the truth for the sake of the oblivious humans in the audience from Mystic Falls and Caroline's family tree. "But at times I swear it only feels like I just remembered it yesterday. He was harsh, dark, but still a king. And yet I knew he needed something. Turns out, all he needed was a queen. And he has found one in Caroline. I've only been friends with Care for a little while in comparison to my time spent with Klaus, but I know that she is confident, loyal, graceful, a true queen. And all she needed was a man to prove himself worthy enough to be her king. Its clear that they bring out the best in each other, and at times the worst." He smiled along with the crowd. "But one thing is for sure. The respect and care they show for one another is unparalleled, and I believe truly that Caroline is the best possible person for Klaus, and Klaus is the best possible person for Caroline."

"Care, you have always been there for me through thick and thin." Elena stated with a smile. "I remember back in the day when you and I used to complain and cry about boys in the fifth grade while eating our way through tubs of Ben and Jerry's ice cream and swearing that one day we would find them and marry them and our lives would be forever happy." The guests laughed, and Elena smiled with them. "Sadly we didn't find Ben or Jerry. But you found Klaus. He may not be the man I predicted you'd marry – because he doesn't own a delicious ice cream company for one thing – but he will give you more love than any dairy product will. Sometimes I don't even believe that fact for myself, but then I look around," Her eyes locked on Stefan, remembering his ripper days, and then Damon, remembering all the terrible things he did when he came to Mystic Falls. Her gaze returned to the couple. "and I see how our expectations aren't always what we thought them to be, and sometimes they're better. And I look at you two, and I see happiness, devotion, love." She smiled. "Even though you and I didn't find Ben and Jerry, I know that your life with Klaus will be forever happy."

"Ahh, where to begin." Rebekah sighed. "My dear brother Niklaus is a man of many faces. He is creative, passionate, temperamental, and for a very, very long time, loyal to his priorities that were ever changing. And then he met the lovely Caroline, and something changed. She became one of his priorities, and remained at the top despite everything that fate threw in their path. Now, being the complete egg head he is, he didn't notice this for a while," She teased, making a face at the look Klaus sent her way. "But once he did, it was easy to see how he let it change him. He let Caroline change him. And I can only assume its because he finally understood just how light she is. Caroline, you are a gift from the heaven I now know exists, and while I'll never understand what my charming brother has done to deserve a creature like you, I'm glad he is worthy, for it has brought him back into our lives, and you with him. I wish you both every eternal happiness."

"Despite what many could tell you, my brother Niklaus is the most loyal, compassionate, trustworthy men I know." Elijah said. "The reason for the confusion behind what others might think of this is that he only shows his true self to those who matter most to him. And the lovely Miss Caroline Forbes – forgive me – Mrs Caroline Mikaelson is clearly the person who matters the most to him. And for that, I know that she will always be protected and cherished. Caroline, you are his redemption, and we have spent what feels like countless lifetimes searching for you. Niklaus did not believe he would ever find such a celestial being for quite some time, and it led to his disbelief in family. Well, while I most likely do not need to remind you of this today of all days, brother, I will tell you again. Family is power. Love, loyalty, is power. We are the Mikaelson family, the one and only, the originals. The Original family. And we remain together, always and forever. Welcome to our family, Caroline."

.  
The band started up music to dance again, and everything kicked into another gear. Caroline found herself in a whirl on the dance floor as Jeremy was with Kol who was dancing next to Matt who spun Rebekah, who was laughing with Bonnie and Elena. Stefan and Elijah stood with them, with matching broody looks, but still smiled slightly. Damon bumped hips next to Eva who managed to coax a couple of laughs from Gwen, and Caroline and Klaus was in the middle of it all, unbelievably happy with the moment that had managed to bring everyone together. They may hate one another at times, but just for this moment, everything was perfect.

 _Say yeah, lets be alone together_  
We can stay young forever  
Scream it from the top of your lungs  
Say yeah, lets be alone together  
We can stay young forever  
We can stay young, young, young, young

As the music slowed down, Klaus left Caroline with a lingering kiss before Elijah took Caroline's hand for one of the traditional dances with the bride.

"Did you enjoy the ceremony?" Caroline asked.

"Quite. In truth, I still can't believe this has happened." Elijah admitted as he led her elegantly through the other couples dancing. His hold kept her at an honorable distance that made her smile grow even wider. "I never thought I would see the day that my brother was not only happy, not only in love, but getting married." He looked her straight in the eyes and smiled. "I am glad to say that I was wrong in that assumption."

"Thank you."

"Do you feel as though you are officially part of our twisted little family tree?"  
"Oh, Elijah," Caroline shook her head with a smile. "I've felt as if I was part of the family long before this day. I hope you know that."

Elijah smiled, breaking his composure for one second as he looked down at his shoes bashfully. "I am glad to hear that." He lifted his face once he had controlled his expression again, and studied her. "I do appreciate that you also have not lost that sunshine smile of yours for the whole night."

The smile Elijah spoke of grew on Caroline's face. "I can't stop smiling."

"And indeed why should you?" Elijah said softly, smiling fondly down at his new sister. He spun her once before the music came to an end and he nodded to her.

"Thank you, Caroline."

"Thank you, Elijah."

He glanced at someone over Caroline's shoulder. "If you will excuse me, I believe I must dance with Gwen, and you must dance with your other new brother." He smiled at her before spinning her once more as Kol took his place seamlessly.

"Good evening, darling sister." He grinned at her, and she laughed.

"I don't think I'm going to ever get over you saying that."

"I don't think I'm going to ever get over saying it." Kol replied. "Its crazy that my brother married anyone, let alone someone as nice as you."

"I get the feeling that you're all going to keep saying that too." Caroline joked, gasping and laughing as Kol led her through a series of twisting spins and twirls.

"Where did you learn to dance like that?" She asked.

"A century in a box doesn't necessarily equal poor dancing skills, darling." Kol chuckled. "Though I'm sure my brother has picked up more moves than I have over the years."

"I doubt it." Caroline scoffed, not being able to believe that Klaus could move in any way livelier than a waltz. He may have been around for the swinging sixties, but he didn't seem like quite the dancer. She smiled at the words, remembering the ball over a year ago.

"What are you smirking at?" Kol asked.

Caroline came back to the present and shook her head. "Just at how its funny how things work out."

"Like you falling into the trap of being stuck with Nik for all eternity?" Kol nodded, teasing, and Caroline lightly punched his arm with a blow that would severely bruise a human.

"I kid." Kol said fondly. "I look forward to the rest of time with you and my brother. You do make him far more bearable."

"Aw, thank you." Caroline said sassily. "Eva does the same for you."

"Isn't she a gem?" Kol replied with the same sass, but there was a warmth in his voice, and she noticed his gaze wander to wherever the honey blonde may be.

"She is." Caroline agreed. "You had better take care of her."

Kol returned his eyes to hers in a rare moment of sincerity. "Oh, make no mistake, Caroline. I intend to."

"I'm glad to hear that." She smiled, laughing as he grinned and spun her fast again.

Caroline danced with Damon, Matt, and a quick rotation with Jeremy before she had a chance to catch her breath on the edge of the dance floor. Klaus was making the same rounds himself, having danced with Elena, Bonnie, Gwen, Rebekah, and even Liz. He was currently elegantly leading Eva around the floor, and Caroline could see her reserved expression from across the room, though Klaus had managed to almost bring a smile to the surface, as he was clearly in high spirits.

She watched the guests twirl around with their partners on the floor, and frowned as she realized that a familiar sleek blonde head was missing. Sure enough, after a scan of the room, Caroline spied Rebekah leaving the ballroom to follow a rugged-looking blonde man out to the gardens. Something about Rebekah's light step and the way she shared a glance with the man told Caroline that the mystery gatecrasher was Vaughn. She moved around the edge of the dance floor to see if she could follow them, but became side tracked as she spied Stefan leaning against the back of one of the chairs, his brooding expression stuck on his face.

Caroline sighed comically and leaned against a chair next to him.

"No one likes a wallflower."

Stefan glanced sideways at her with a hint of a smile. "Especially if it's the bride at her own wedding. How come you aren't dancing?"

"I was going to ask you the same question." Caroline said. "Any reason why you aren't out there?"

"You know me, Care." Stefan replied. "Unfortunately I have this little problem…when I party too hard, I end up killing people."

"Well I as your self appointed sober coach am going to keep an eye out for you, but that doesn't mean you can't have fun." Caroline nodded. "I mean, come on. You are the best man at a wedding, and you're sorta single, and you're, well,  _you_." She bumped her hip against his teasingly, and Stefan smiled.

"Am I just meant to grab the prettiest girl in the room and take her out on the dance floor for a twirl."

"Naturally." Caroline agreed.

He tilted his head, considering the crowd, before nodding. "Okay." Stefan suddenly grabbed Caroline by the waist, spinning her as she giggled.

"I didn't mean me!"

Stefan set her down amidst the dancing crowd.

"Well you are clearly the prettiest girl in the room, being the bride and all." Stefan grinned, and she rolled her eyes at him with a stunning smile.

"Thank you, best man."

Stefan offered her his hand, and she took it with a smile, swaying with him to a lively beat.

"I see you found a dress?" Stefan smiled. Caroline looked at him questioningly, and he elaborated. "Rebekah told me about your many shopping excursions."

"Well then yes, I did find a dress. In fact, Klaus found it technically."

"Let me guess, you asked for his help?"

"Maybe."

Stefan grinned. "You know you have him wrapped around your little finger, right?"

Caroline blushed slightly. "Hopefully no one else can see that."

"Oh, I'm sure that no one else can see it." Stefan assured her, leaning in slightly so they danced cheek to cheek. "That is, until they see how he looks at you."

"You're teasing." Caroline smiled.

"I might be, but its true." Stefan said. "Even as we speak, he's looking over here with that calculating look. Its easy to see that he wants to get you back in his arms as soon as possible."

Caroline chuckled. "Then maybe I should dance a little longer with you."

Stefan laughed, but Caroline could feel his chest heave a heavy sigh right after. "Its easy to see just how in love the two of you are."

"You say that with just a hint of regret, Stefan. Want to tell me what's going on in that pretty head of yours?"

"I thought that what I had with Elena was real, but its easy to see that the whole ordeal is affecting me a lot more than its affecting her. And I've tried to move on, but I can't seem to shake her."

Caroline pressed her chin against Stefan's shoulder, rubbing his back comfortingly. "That's normal. You were in love, and that doesn't go away just because you declare that you're moving on. And launching into something with Beks isn't going to make any other feelings go away."

"Well then what do you suggest I do?"

Caroline sighed, contemplating. "I don't know. I think that someday, you'll be talking to someone, and you'll just fall madly in love, and you'll have moved on without even realizing it."

They swayed for a few beats before Stefan chuckled. "That sounds a lot like you and Klaus."

"It happened once with you and Elena. Is it so crazy to think that it could happen again?"

"With her?"

"With anyone."

Stefan pulled back to study her face. "You really believe that?"

Caroline scoffed. "Come on, Stefan, you're  _you._  You remember way back when I first met you? You had every girl at school falling at your feet, myself included."

"And now look. You've moved on and fallen for Klaus."

"And you see how happy I am?"

Stefan smiled, a slight reflection of the beam of joy that hadn't fully left Caroline's face the whole day. "You'd have to be blind to miss how happy you are."

"Mind if I cut in, mate?" Klaus' smooth accent made them both turn to see the hybrid smiling wickedly at the pair of them.

"Of course not." Stefan grinned at them both.

"Just remember what I told you." Caroline said, hugging him tightly before turning her full attention back to Klaus. Stefan turned, twirling a girl from the crowd into his arms smoothly as he returned to the guests.

The newlyweds were in their own little world again.

Klaus spun Caroline back into his arms, and she sighed happily, pressed against his chest.

"Can I just not leave your arms for the rest of the night?"

"You can stay in my arms forever if you'd like." Klaus smirked.

"You know I would." Caroline smiled up at him.

"Are you happy, Mrs Mikaelson?"

"Everything about you makes me happy, Mr Mikaelson." She chuckled. "I'm never going to get used to you calling me that. But I love it."

"I love you." Klaus said for the thousandth time that day, and he knew he still hadn't said it enough.

"I love you." Caroline murmured, reaching up to kiss him. They broke away to smile softly at each other, and he spun them in slow circles as the music changed again.

 _We'll do it all_  
Everything  
On our own  
We don't need  
Anything  
Or anyone

"Do you remember what I said on the night of your eighteenth birthday?" Klaus asked her softly.

"Of course." She replied quietly. "But I want to hear it from you again."

He smiled at her, leaning in to brush his lips against her ear as they danced. "I'll let you in on a little secret, angel. There's a whole world out there waiting for you. Great cities, and art, and music. Genuine beauty. And you can have all of it."

Klaus smirked as he felt a shiver run through her entire body where it swayed temptingly against his.

"Well, you have travelled with me. You've seen some of the worlds art and music. And I hope you know that you are a vision of genuine beauty every day, especially today. And you can have all of the world, but most of all you can have all of me, forever."

"Forever?" Caroline asked breathlessly.

"Forever." Klaus repeated.

 _If I lay here_  
If I just lay here  
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?  
Forget what we're told  
Before we get too old  
Show me a garden that's bursting into life  
All that I am  
All that I ever was  
Is here in your perfect eyes, they're all I can see

As the song came to a close, the couple made the last few rounds to talk to the guests. All too soon, the cake was cut, and the final song was announced and played. Caroline and Klaus ended the night in a similar way to how it had begun, surrounded as the music surged around them.

_Let us die young or let us live forever_

Rebekah nestled into Stefan's side, and despite the two of them being pulled in opposite directions by their hearts, they found comfort and happiness in each other. Only time would tell what would happen there, but Caroline was happy to see that they continued to smile that secret smile at one another

_Don't have the power, but we never say never_

Eva stood with her arms around Kol and Bonnie. Bonnie in turn clasped Jeremy's hand. Gwen stood next to Jeremy while Elijah smiled down at her.

_Why don't we stay young?_

Elena and Damon were pressed together. Only time would tell what would happen there also, but Caroline could see that Damon had truly cared for Elena for longer than he admitted, and Elena was drawn to him in ways she couldn't explain. And that was certainly something Caroline could relate to.

_Youth is like diamonds in the sun, and diamonds are forever_

Klaus and Caroline stood in the midst of it all, happy with their decision of forever.

 _Forever young, I wanna be forever young_  
Do you really want to live forever  
Forever, forever

Caroline made a quick change into a gorgeous dark gold dress with mesh back paneling before she and Klaus made their departure. She had absolutely no idea where they were going for the honeymoon, but she was happy to be going anywhere with him. And despite her love for her home town, she was happy to leave Mystic Falls again. She wanted to see the world, to experience it with her husband. She grinned at just the thought, and clasped Klaus' hand, waving to her family and friends as they drove away.

Klaus brushed a kiss against her temple. "I've already booked everything for our next destination, but I had a feeling that you would want control again." He grinned at her and she nodded.

"That's right." She agreed.

"So after our first stop, where do you want to go next, love?" Klaus asked.

"I want to go everywhere." Caroline smiled. "Literally every single destination, every inch of this Earth. And I want to go everywhere with you. Forever."

Klaus shared her smile. "Forever."


	35. Merry Klausmas 2 - Return of the Grinch

It was the night before Christmas. Or rather, the night before the week leading up to Christmas. And Klaus was not happy.

"I received an interesting call from Rebekah today." He stated as Caroline unpacked the Christmas decorations she had insisted on buying to festoon the house.

She faltered, knowing what was going to come next, but continued to unravel the miles of white tinsel. "Yes?"

"Saying that you had invited her over for Christmas." Klaus continued. "Which I thought was odd, seeing as I hadn't heard anything about having family around for the holidays."

"I thought I would surprise you." The blonde said airily, not meeting his gaze as she busied herself by setting out the candles.

"You know I hate surprises. Especially where my family are concerned."

"Its our first Christmas since we got back from the trip." Caroline reasoned, finally meeting his eyes. "And I wanted to try and do a whole Christmas thing just like my family used to do."

Klaus took in her pleading pout and puppy eyes and knew he was not going to win this fight. Neither she nor his feelings for her would allow that. "The moment that Christmas is over, I want them out of here." He compromised.

"Yes, Mr Grinch." She beamed, flitting over and roping him in with tinsel for a kiss. "Thank you."

And so it was that the Mikaelsons gathered together for Christmas. They hadn't been in the same room like this since Klaus and Caroline had left to see the world together. The last Christmas they had celebrated together was in London.

Things were going to get interesting.

It was five days till Christmas Eve and the dinner that Caroline planned, and she had already begun to bake. Most of the dinner was to be cooked on the day, but she had wanted to have a good batch of gingerbread all done before the day.

Klaus came in to the kitchen to find his blonde angel with smudges of flour all over her arms and face. Her gaze wasn't focused on the chunk of gingerbread dough that she rolled out underneath her large wooden rolling pin, but on the small television screen she had set up on the counter. As he drew nearer to her, he realized that she was playing old children's Christmas programs.

"Sentimental, are we?" Klaus asked as he came closer.

Caroline tore her gaze away from the animated characters to flash a smile in his direction. "It's a Christmas tradition of mine. I've watched these every year since I was six."

Klaus studied the cartoons on the screen. "I don't understand it."

"I'm just letting you know, if you diss Winnie the Pooh or Piglet, I'm not going to be happy." She warned him, returning to the program as she flicked more flour onto the flat dough in front of her. "They taught me everything I know about friendship."

"Explains a lot." Klaus teased, dodging the flour she flicked in his direction and pressing a kiss to her cheek. "You smell like cinnamon."

"Blame it on the cooking." Her body tilted back to rest against his automatically, encouraging him to twine his arms around her waist.

He pressed his mouth against her skin where her shoulder connected with her neck. "You taste like it too." He murmured.

"Mmm." She agreed, her hands falling idle as she pressed against him.

Her apron was already unknotted from her waist and her shirt halfway up her torso before she clocked on to what he was doing – distracting her.

"Nik." She whined. "I've got to get these done."

"I'm sure you'll have plenty of time – "

"I  _barely have time_." She retorted sharply, flashing out of his embrace and over to the other side of the counter.

Klaus regarded her with the barest hint of a pout as she smoothed down her shirt and wound her apron back around her waist. She sighed, knowing she was helpless to that puppy-dog look he pulled.

"Let me put this last batch on."

.

Four days till Christmas, and things had already started to unravel. And the cause of all the mischief was Kol.

"Did you mean to have all of this?" Klaus asked Caroline from where he stood gazing out the front window.

"All of what?" She frowned, coming to join his side. She gaped at the sight.

The front lawn was festooned with deliveries of multiple outdoor Christmas decorations.

"Its so tacky." Was all that she could manage to mutter.

Klaus took great pleasure in taking each of the decorations from the front garden out to the woods and destroying them.

.

The third day till Christmas Eve dawned brightly.

Caroline and Klaus woke up pleasantly enough, until they made their way down stairs to find a peculiar sight in the lounge room.

The whole floor was covered in what looked like white foam.

"Is that…snow?" Caroline mused softly as she tiptoed her way down the stairs.

Klaus padded through the mess that was ankle deep, and scowled. "It's Styrofoam."

Caroline ran her hand through the mess. It was nothing more than the material they put into bean bags. However, someone had clearly gone to the effort to dump a thousand bean-bags worth into the lounge room, making it look as if snow was all around them. The clean up would be horrendous.

"Who…?" She trailed off.

Klaus growled under his breath. "Kol."

.

Two days before Christmas brought about a very elaborate prank that Caroline simply had to admire for the effort it must have taken.

The bathroom plumbing had been altered so that the twin taps that curled into the sink ran red and green water.

Klaus had not been as amused.

.

One day before Christmas was the final straw. Klaus and Caroline were awoken at dawn to the sound of carolers outside on their front porch. Caroline had convinced Klaus that she could send them away far more politely than he could, but when she discovered that the poor carolers were compelled to stay for the entire day, it was all she could do to stop Klaus from draining all of them dry.

"Its not their fault." She hissed sharply, tugging his head around so his eyes met hers. "Remember the Christmas spirit. Take this out on Kol for all I care, but don't you  _dare_  ruin innocent people's Christmases."

Klaus found the most isolated, quiet part of the house to remain in for the rest of the day while Caroline kept the carolers warm and fed even as they sang for the whole day.

.

The morning of Christmas Eve dawned, and Caroline was in a flurry. Tinsel dripped down the banister of the stairs, mistletoe and holly adorned the doorways, stars didn't just hang, they trickled down from the light fittings, and a few angels watched over the occupants of the house from various mantelpieces.

The blonde angel herself was in the kitchen stressing over her grandma's cookbook when the first guest arrived.

Rebekah was grinning when the door was opened, but her smile shrank two teeth when she saw it was her brother.

"Where's Caroline?"

"Merry Christmas to you too, dear sister." Klaus said dryly. The blonde Original sashayed past him into the house, and he exhaled. "Yes, of course, come in, don't wait for an invitation."

"I didn't." She said.

"I know." He gritted.

"Caro?" Rebekah called.

"In here, Beks." Caroline's voice floated out from the kitchen, and Rebekah swiftly enveloped the girl in a hug.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Same to you!" Caroline beamed, wrapping one arm around the girl in return while juggling a turkey baster in her other hand.

Rebekah turned to where Klaus leaned against the doorframe. "Right,  _now_  its your turn, Nik. Merry Christmas."

"Second?" Klaus scoffed in surprise. "Am I no longer the alpha here?"

"Not when my sister-in-law is concerned." Rebekah replied.

"I was surprised when Nik told me you had got in contact with him." Caroline interjected, raising her eyebrow. "And aside from disregarding the tiny thing I had asked from you when I said 'don't mention it to Nik', I'm more curious as to what brought you to Christmas here  _alone_."

Rebekah sat down at the kitchen bench contemptuously. "Its simple, really. I placed all my options on a dart board and let fate decide." She studied her perfectly buffed nails with a careful eye. "Clearly fate wants me to impale you all on a dart, but we'll see how dinner pans out first."

"Speaking of dinner, I've got a pot of potatoes that need to go on the boil." Caroline mentioned ever so casually, but the Original blonde didn't get her suggestion.

"What's the poison for tonight?" Rebekah asked her brother.

"Haven't selected anything particular." Klaus replied.

"Then allow me." She grinned, making her way to the cellar. Klaus was about to follow her – he couldn't simply hand over the selection for drinking without a good fight – but the doorbell cut off whatever he was about to say in protest.

He groaned. "Make sure that whatever you choose, there are at least three bottles of it." Klaus called after his sister as she disappeared down the stairs. "We're certainly going to need it."

"Let me guess," Caroline called after him as he stalked towards the front door. "Kol?"

"The one and only." The youngest Mikaelson brother responded as Klaus opened the door.

"With company." Eva added, before taking in Klaus' murderous expression. "Though whatever he did this time, I had no part in it."

"I don't doubt you." Klaus growled, his eyes fixed on Kol. "You, dear Evangeline, have enough common sense to not cross me."

"I, on the other hand, have taken a thousand years worth of pleasure from it." Kol grinned, aware of the retaliation that was about to come his way.

Klaus stepped aside to allow Eva across the threshold, and grabbed Kol by the throat as he proceeded to follow her.

Eva continued on, leaving Kol behind her. Whatever was happening, he deserved it, no doubt. She knew what a scoundrel he could be.

"Merry Christmas, Carolina." She called to the blonde whirlwind in the kitchen.

Caroline turned around brandishing a spatula and enveloped Eva in a hug. "Eva! I'm guessing Kol is here too?"

Eva nodded, and the sound of glass shattering echoed through the house.

Caroline shut her eyes and exhaled slowly through her nose. "Klaus is with him out the front, isn't he?"

Eva nodded again, and Caroline set her face in the most calm expression she could muster.

"That had better not be my front window, you  _pests_." She shouted loud enough for the Mikaelson boys to hear her, before turning back to the stove.

"I see domestic bliss suits you well." Eva noted, leaning against the countertop.

"It does…" Caroline mused as she started chopping sweet potato. "When Klaus isn't acting all…Klaus-like."

"Which I gather is what is happening today." Eva sighed. "What did Kol do this time?"

"A bunch of Christmas pranks." Caroline scoffed. "Remind me to never again whinge to Kol about how much of a Christmas grouch Klaus is."

"I'll make sure of it." Eva chuckled, her smile widening as a blonde head popped up from the cellar.

"Caro, ask Nik if we're allowed to open the '37…" Rebekah caught sight of Eva and grinned. "Well, someone's a sight for sore eyes."

"Didn't know you could see yourself in a mirror." Eva retorted, walking over and kissing the blonde Original on the cheek. "I thought you would have been with one of your man-friends for the holidays."

"Too many to choose between." Rebekah smirked, handing numerous bottles to Eva before disappearing back down the stairs.

Eva read the labels. "Well, its certainly going to be a Merry Christmas, that's for sure."

The sound of splintering wood resonated in the front of the house, and Caroline sighed.

"So long as no one kills anyone."

.

Klaus hovered over Kol with one foot planted on his shoulder to keep him pinned to the ground.

"Is there any reason why you decided to continuously send Christmas decorations over to the house?" He growled at his younger brother.

Kol grinned back up at him. "I missed tussles like this. Its been a while."

Klaus dug his heel further into Kol's shoulder, and he gasped out a chuckle.

"Do you remember the last big fight in Vienna? Those were the days. Now it takes a good weeks worth of pranks to rile you up again." Kol tiled his head. "Its Caroline, isn't it? She bats her lashes and gets you to stop threatening to burn the world down to ashes."

"If there is one thing that is going to be burned to ashes these holidays," Klaus snarled, picking up his brother by the collar of his shirt and dangling him an inch above the ground. "It will be you."

Before Klaus could threaten any more, the door opened and Elijah walked in with a frown.

"I thought I heard your pleasant tones." He said to the pair of them, before catching Klaus' eye. "Niklaus. Would you mind setting down our brother and greeting me properly?"

"As a matter of fact, I would mind." Klaus replied snarkily, but he let Kol drop back to the floor before clasping Elijah in a swift brotherly hug. Out of all of his siblings, he could tolerate Elijah the longest.

"No companion this year?" Kol asked as he straightened the creases in his shirt.

"None." Elijah said with a flippant air. "Besides, Christmas is a time for family."

"Though I wish it weren't." Klaus turned a glare on Kol, who couldn't hold back his grin. He  _loved_  riling Klaus up. If there was anything better than a Christmas present, irritating his brother would certainly be top of the list.

"Where is the lovely Caroline?" Elijah asked Klaus.

"In her battle tower." He replied with a wave towards the kitchen. At that very moment, a shriek sounded along with the scent of something burning.

_"Crap!"_

The three Mikaelson brothers came down the hall to the kitchen where Caroline was scraping the few burnt bits of crackling off of an otherwise perfectly cooked section of roast pork belly.

Eva and Rebekah chose that moment to pop up out of the cellar with bottles of wine.

"Elijah!" Rebekah gasped with a happy smile, jumping into his arms and very nearly crashing the bottles together, were it not for Klaus' careful intervention as he grabbed the wine from her hands.

"Rebekah," Elijah grinned genuinely at his sister, holding her close before moving to greet Eva. "Merry Christmas."

"Same to you." She replied politely, tapping her cheek against his informally for a kiss.

"And Merry Christmas, Caroline." Elijah greeted Caroline politely as she attempted to juggle two roasting pans. "Thank you for inviting us all into your home."

Caroline beamed genuinely at him, grateful for the small bit of praise.

Klaus scoffed. "When you say 'invited', it implies that others also had a say in the matter."

Caroline rolled her eyes at Klaus before returning her smiling face back to Elijah. "Don't mind him. He's just annoyed that Kol found some inventive ways to prank him."

"I'm guessing this explains the tussle in the front room?" Elijah asked, turning back to his brothers.

"Yes." Kol confirmed proudly.

"I'm running short of time – " Caroline mentioned as she chopped the cucumber at a hectic speed.

"For the record, Kol is not the only annoyance." Klaus shrugged, pouring wine into all six glasses regardless of his words. "I was against the whole thing."

"Against this whole gathering?" Eva asked with a frown.

"He's against anything Caroline organizes without telling him." Rebekah elaborated, accepting the wine glass before Klaus could rescind his offer, smirking over the top of the red liquid that was a mixture of grapes and blood.

"If someone could pass that bowl," Caroline indicated towards a white salad bowl, before grabbing it herself.

"That isn't true." Kol pointed out in objection to Rebekah's words. "He's all for most things that Caroline does. All she needs to do is bat those big blue eyes and he'll lop off his own bal – "

"Hey!" Caroline objected, but Klaus cut across any other words.

"Kol, it is Christmas, so I'm going to give you one chance." He growled, his eyes shimmering a slight gold shade. "Shut your mouth, or I will shut it for you when I stick a White Oak Dagger through your heart."

"Dagger threats? This early?" Kol grinned. "It really is Christmas."

"If the dagger disagrees with you, I've always got a lovely indestructible White Oak Stake that I'm itching to place in your chest." Klaus snarled with a nasty smile.

 _"HEY!"_  Caroline snapped again, and all five heads whirled around to face her where she stood in the middle of the kitchen. Her hair was in wisps around her face, her apron dashed with different streaks of flour and oil, and her hands were on her hips.

"I have been working my  _butt_  off since seven this morning. I have been cooking and cleaning and organizing everything so this day would be perfect, because Christmas is a time for family. Yes, family can suck, family can be annoying, but that's what families  _do._  You know what else families do? Say thank you. And you know what else families do? They  _help_  each other. Don't get me wrong, I love cooking everything to make today a wonderful family Christmas time, but that doesn't mean I have to do it all alone. And I've been doing  _eve-ry-thing._  So since all of you are at least a billion times older than me, stop acting like children and start acting like a  _real_  family."

Silence reigned after Caroline's outburst. Klaus was the first to break the silence.

"Sweetheart – "

"Don't you 'sweetheart' me." Caroline growled, turning to face him alone. "You have been the worst, acting like nothing can touch you, like family isn't important to you. But it is. You know it, and so do I. I'm in love with you, and I know that you're in love me. Your family loves you, and you love them. And I know that you think Christmas is some stupid tradition that's been manufactured into this whole holiday to produce money, but can we just for one moment celebrate it for what it really is – bringing people together out of love?"

Klaus let her finish, and the last bit of irrational, angry energy gust out of her with that final breath. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, and out. When she raised her eyes to Klaus' face again, his own were warm and fond.

"Caroline," He murmured, drawing out her name in that special way of his that she loved it the most,  _Ca-ro-line_. His calloused palms came up to cup her cheeks ever so tenderly. "You're right. As you often are."

 _"Often?"_  She interjected, and he placed a thumb across her rosebud lips.

"I let you talk." Klaus raised his brows. "Now let me."

Caroline frowned slightly, but nodded.

"You're right, love. Family is important to me. But as always, it has got the better of me by triggering my worst emotions – anger, spitefulness, loneliness. Family brings out the worst in us, and the best too. I'm just lucky to have found an angel who reminds me to be at my best rather than my worst." He stroked his fingers carefully down her neck, as if she were made of the most delicate glass.

She rocked up on her toes to press her lips against his, not wanting any more words. There had been far too many speeches already, and it was Christmas; a time for toasts, for laughter, for long-winded tales, for sharing words. But just for now, all she wanted to share was the emotions between them: the remains of their previous aggravation, the new feeling of forgiveness and the everlasting reverence they both kept for each other.

When Caroline opened her eyes and smiled at Klaus, he grinned a far too pleased grin. She frowned, knowing that smile. It was one that told her she was about to find out something.

"What?"

"Turn around, sweetheart."

Caroline turned to find the kitchen in order, the food she had just finished cooking presented neatly in their correct dishes, and the four remaining Mikaelsons gathered around the table waiting for them patiently. The family had worked as one to get Christmas in order, and everything was beautiful.

Caroline tilted her head onto Klaus' shoulder. "See? What did I tell you? Family."

.

It had been a while since the family had caught up, since for the first time in centuries, they were spread out happily across the globe.

Klaus and Caroline had visited a great many sights on the planet. The pair recalled moments from their travels: a night on a boat in Venice, mountain climbing in Peru, and returning to India for the festival of color.

"I still don't understand how you managed to get Nik to participate in the Holi festival not once, but  _twice_." Rebekah shook her head. "How…wait, do I want to know?"

"Probably not." Caroline replied, beaming at Klaus. He returned her smile, brushing a sweet kiss across her palm. They had repeated the entire moment from the year previously where he had finally told her that he loved her, complete down to the red and blue powders they had chosen before. They had also visited the same field where they had lounged together languid in the long grass, only this time it had rained, leaving drops of water that they had kissed off each others bare skin.

"Yes, you're right, we don't want to know." Kol chimed in, pouring everyone another helping of wine before they could protest. "Anything that puts those love struck expressions on their faces should not be shared with family members."

"You are such a romantic." Eva said with a roll of her eyes.

"Why would I need romance when I'm already irresistible?" Kol smirked at her, planting a kiss just under her jawbone.

"And you called them love struck." Rebekah scoffed into her wine.

Elijah had returned to New Orleans to check Marcel was keeping the supernatural beings of the French Quarter in line. He had stayed to sort out an uprising of the witches that was upsetting the balance of nature, and had gained the trust and support of the community there.

"That's not all, though." Rebekah prompted as Elijah finalized what he had been up to.

"What are you neglecting to mention?" Klaus questioned with a smirk that made Caroline think that he already knew what Elijah was trying to skim over.

Elijah shrugged elegantly, sipping his wine. "I have spoken of everything worth mentioning."

"That's true." Rebekah said. "That Petrova girl is hardly worth much."

"Rebekah," Elijah snapped, his tone telling everyone present that he did not want to talk about this issue in particular.

No one said another word about it, though Caroline raised her eyebrows at Rebekah. She would find out the real story once Elijah was out of earshot.

"Would you like to tell the family about your own antics?" Elijah continued, and Rebekah scowled at him.

"Only cause you can't stand the heat." She grumbled.

Rebekah had divided her time in certain cities and towns, from Mystic Falls to New Orleans and beyond. And it appeared that in her travels, she had acquired a dalliance at each place.

"Marcel sends his regards, by the way." Rebekah smirked at Klaus, who frowned slightly, but otherwise said nothing.

"As do Stefan and Matt." She turned to Caroline, who forced herself to swallow her wine rather than spit it out all over the finely laid table.

"Stefan  _and_  Matt?" She asked Rebekah. "And Marcel?"

"And a few others not worth mentioning." The Original Blonde shrugged.

Caroline glanced towards Eva for confirmation, but she merely smiled as if it were a regular occurrence.

"And they all know about each other?"

"Of course." Rebekah said, affronted. "What do you take me for?"

"What can we say?" Kol grinned. "Beks is famous for her strumpet behavior. And us Mikaelson's are hot commodities. Myself especially."

"Oh please." Eva scoffed. "You couldn't get a bear to chase you if you were the only edible thing for miles."

"You're never going to let that go." Kol sighed. "It was one time, and you dared me to."

"And you accepted it!" She laughed.

Kol and Eva had been 'hanging out', in their own words. Neither of them wanted to commit it to any other term.

"How about 'you couldn't get a bounty hunter to chase you if you were an heiress'."

"But that's only half true."

"Which half? You were, nay,  _are_  an heiress, and you did have a bounty hunter after you. That is until you fed on him."

"Still. My bear comment was better."

"Not a chance, darling."

Caroline rolled her head in an exasperated sigh. "God, get married already, you two."

"What?!" Kol and Eva chorused in unison.

"She's right." Klaus said, his fingers stroking soothing patterns along the back of Caroline's neck the way one might pet a cat. "You act like you've been married for a century at least."

"We do not!" Kol spluttered.

"I've already  _been_  married!" Eva protested. "We act nothing like that!"

"Because you love each other." Elijah said with the patience of an adult explaining simple math to a child.

"You both love each other and can't stand each other at the same time." Rebekah smirked, finishing the last mouthful of her red wine.

"That is what true love is." Caroline nodded, smiling slyly at Klaus, the entire history of their relationship passing between them with just one knowing, loving glance.

The table was silent for a moment, before Eva got to her feet restlessly.

"So. Clean up?"

Elijah mirrored her movement on the other side of the table, and the pair started to stack dishes. Kol graciously took the plates from Eva to put in the sink. Klaus gathered the platters, dropping a kiss to the top of Caroline's head as he passed her.

Rebekah eyed Caroline as the young blonde vampire sat back in her chair, exhausted.

"Don't even think about saying it, Beks." Caroline smiled wearily. "I just pulled off the greatest dinner of all time, considering that it could have ended in a food fight." She laughed. "Does it look like I'm about to do the dishes?"

"Touché." Rebekah sighed, before getting to her feet and collecting the empty glasses.

.

Caroline sighed, draping herself across the bed once everyone had retired for the night. It had been a success. It had been a challenge, but a success. Sometimes she wondered if she had been brought into this family because she was the only one who could possibly handle the drama that the Mikaelson's threw around.

A weight either side of her head reminded her of the real reason she was now part of the Original family, and she opened her eyes to find Klaus gazing at her, upside down from the position she lay in.

"You should be thankful." She told him. "That's two Christmases without bloodshed thanks to me."

"I'm always thankful that I'm with such an incredible woman." Klaus replied, brushing a tender kiss across her lips.

Caroline's hand wound through his hair, deepening the kiss. She wondered if this feeling would ever fade, whether she would ever stop loving him this fiercely and desiring every touch and craving every kiss and always wanting more, never tiring of the feelings he stirred inside her. He could kiss her this lovingly forever and every time it would feel like a pulse of pleasure that was entirely new and familiar all at once.

Klaus pulled back despite her grasp, and stroked his fingertips down her smooth cheek before altering his position so he lay beside where she stretched across the bed.

"Are we sleeping a new way tonight, love?" He asked, gesturing to where the pillows lay unused at the head of the bed.

"If that's your way of saying 'lets pull out the Karma Sutra book', you need to work on your lines." Caroline teased, tucking herself into his side.

"Well, if that's you suggesting that we try..." He trailed off, and she kissed the stubbled line of his jaw.

"You created something phenomenal today." Klaus reminded her after a lull.

"I know." Caroline sighed with a content smile.

"Though I won't ever understand what your attachment to this holiday is." He continued.

She paused for a moment, and he wondered if he had hit a nerve.

"Its just old family traditions, I suppose." She finally said. "It reminds me of stuff I did when I was human. Sometimes I forget." She murmured into the crook of his neck. "Sometimes I forget what it was like for me to be human. Sometimes I forget about different parts of my humanity, and how they used to be connected to small things like the time of the year. And sometimes I forget just how much humanity you had lost before I really knew you, and how much more you gained somehow through me – with these silly traditions that anchor me to the girl that I used to be."

"And I'm glad for it." He assured her, his warm breath whispering through the curls at the crown of her head.

"That girl was so small town, though." Caroline half-laughed. "Such a superficial, neurotic teenager. Why would you be glad? Why would you want to know her?"

"I want to know every inch of you, inside and out, from here to the edge of eternity." Klaus said, his fingers smoothing down her arm leisurely, leaving goose bumps in their wake. "Because that superficial, neurotic girl grew to be the woman you are today. And true, in some moments, you still are that girl. But without those nuances, you wouldn't be you. And I love all those fragments that make up you."

Caroline lifted her face to his, and he captured her lips in a kiss so slowly intense and fierce that it curled her toes. They savored that night, taking in each others skin slowly as if memorizing it like it would be the last time.

.

Christmas morning dawned, and the family gathered beneath the tree as they had done back at the last Christmas in London.

Rebekah had appreciated the gesture of Caroline getting her all ten seasons of  _Friends_ , despite her sneer of how she 'didn't waste her time on such superficial, meaningless drivel, regardless of its comic value'.

Elijah's face bore a genuine smile when he unwrapped the duelling swords Klaus had given him. He even went as far as promising to test them in a duel with Klaus later that day.

Kol was amused by the  _'101 practical jokes'_  book that Klaus had wrapped for him, especially when he found out its pages were filled with more gruesome variations on 'practical jokes' that vampires such as the Originals might find entertaining.

Eva was quite attached to the simple blue ribbon that Kol had given her. Caroline later learnt from Klaus that it had been what a bride and groom would tie around themselves at their wedding back in the day, giving the origins of the tradition of 'something blue'. On the blue ribbon was a thin iron band that looked as if it could fit Eva's finger.

Klaus received a crown from Caroline. He had puzzled over it as she smirked, before she admitted what it symbolized.

"It's a reminder." She said softly. "That you're always going to be king in my life. No one else. No competition."

Klaus returned the gesture in a way that thrilled Caroline's heart. For after all the presents were opened, after every stocking was emptied, he brought another box into the room, one that was heavy and moving slightly. And if Caroline concentrated, she could hear a heartbeat.

She tilted her head in wordless question to Klaus, and he shook his head in response.

"Open it."

It was a beautiful husky puppy, with piercing blue eyes that seemed to glow like the embers of a dying fire. The little thing bumbled out of the box Klaus had placed him momentarily in, and Caroline had been lost for words. When the puppy butted its head against her hand before licking it with its tiny pink tongue, nuzzling its way into her arms, she had looked up at Klaus again.

"Because there wasn't enough drama having one beast-man in your life." He smirked.

The puppy found itself in a warm embrace between Klaus and Caroline, and the miniature family of three came to be.


End file.
